The Collaborative, which is led by MPFT, is a new way of working which offers a real opportunity to look at how services can be delivered differently. Working in partnership with other organisations means each can benefit from the other’s specialist knowledge and expertise and offer local people the best range of care across the region. People who use the service and their carers and families are also important members of the Collaborative and have brought their expertise and experience to developing the approach and designing the clinical outcomes.
The West Midlands Eating Disorders Provider Collaborative consists of five core partners together with people who use the service, their family and carers and other partner organisations. It provides adult eating disorder services serving a population of 4.5 million covering the West Midlands.
Through working together, the partners in the Collaborative have improved the quality and consistency of service, including reducing the distance many patients need to travel to receive care (the average distance travelled by a patient has reduced from 117 miles to 28 miles).
Since the launch of the Collaborative, fewer patients have needed to be admitted to hospital for care of their eating disorder, improving patient satisfaction and reducing disruption to their lives. We have successfully avoided 17 patient admissions and delivered treatment in a community setting which has been just as successful. Those who have had to be admitted to hospital have not had to travel outside of the West Midlands, and have also stayed in hospital for a shorter period of time (the average length of stay has reduced from 126 days to 90 days).
Mel Watson, Provider Collaborative Programme Director, MPFT, says “We are extremely proud of our Collaborative and believe the shared clinical leadership and partnership with the people using our services has resulted in a positive impact on both the quality of services and the patient experience. We now plan to do more to identify and address local issues and further develop the responsiveness of services.”
The partners in the Collaborative are; Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust; Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust; Priory Healthcare and Elysium Healthcare.
The success of the Collaborative to date has already been recognised with the project having been shortlisted for a prestigious national HSJ Value Award.