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COMMISSIONERS
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Appropriate and timely services

There needs to be an adequate amount of services that women can be referred on to. These services need to meet women’s needs and be offered in a timely manner. 

  • A lack of appropriate and timely services.

  • Guidance for providing services.

A lack of appropriate and timely services

A lack of appropriate and timely services is a barrier​

to care​.

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"I could see that [the EPDS score] was high and you make your referrals, and it was months out before she could go . . . she had to almost take her life to get seen right away. And that’s terrible that it has to come to that. I think that’s the biggest struggle.​"​

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Evidence level: ​High

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​Parts of the care pathway affected: Decision to consult, Assessment, Referral, Access to treatment, Provision of optimal treatment​.

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Key literature: ​

Doering JJ, et al. 2017

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Guidance for providing services

According to Moreton et al. 2021 to provide services that meet the needs of the population, commissioners must:​

  • Have a good knowledge of population and the healthcare need in question. Therefore, training on perinatal mental health should be mandatory for at least one commissioner in each Primary Care Network, Integrated Care System or Health Board (see recommended training [add link])​

  • Engage with people with lived experience - services should be co-produced with those who have lived experience 

  • Have access to high quality evidence e.g. the development of perinatal mental health information guide: ​

  1. Symptoms of PNMI​

  2. Impact on women and their families​

  3. Barriers to women getting care they need and how to overcome these​

  4. Effective care and treatment​

  5. Examples of good practice​

Recommendations

Provision of adequate financial resources to ensure service managers can: ​

  • Recruit a multi-disciplinary team with enough staff to meet service users’ needs​.

  • Provide high-quality, time protected staff training to all staff​.

  • Provide continuity of carer​.

  • Provide resources that break down language barriers such as translators or Language Line​.

  • Provide an adequate number of appropriate services that women can be referred to in a timely manner​.

  • Provide individualised, woman-centred care.

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