A NEW mental health service to help residents has been set up.

Patients in Evesham and local villages who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems can use a new service, called Active Monitoring.

The service will be delivered by Springfield Mind, a local mental health charity with over 30 years’ experience working with those living with low mental wellbeing and mental ill health across Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Active Monitoring is a needs’ based, early intervention programme developed and co-designed by the national charity Mind and GPs to provide support to peoplewho visit their GP with symptoms of common mental health needs including stress, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.

Patients will benefit from five face-to-face sessions of guided self-help with a trained Springfield Mind practitioner delivered from within their GP practice.

The grant by the local CCG provides an opportunity to offer the service on a wider basis and we are currently recruiting for three Springfield Mind Practitioners to work across seven GP practices in Wychavon for an initial period of 12 months.

Julia Lloyd, GP at Abbey Medical Centre, Evesham, said: “We are extremely pleased that we can now continue the fantastic support that our patients have been benefiting from over the past year.

"Active Monitoring has made a significant difference for our patients with common mental health problems and has supported them to greatly improve their mental wellbeing.

“Many people currently wait for mental health symptoms to pass or wait to access support services.

"Our patients can now get more timely support from Springfield Mind. The service is local, quick to access and face-to-face."

Jo Min, deputy chief executive of Springfield Mind said: “Mental health can affect all of us at any time in our lives.

"The support we can give through Active Monitoring can be life changing for many individuals we work with.

"We treat people as a person not as an illness, with patience and empowerment, through self-guided exercises. We have already had some very positive results elsewhere in England and Wales and are thrilled to have the funding to roll out this scheme within a greater number of GP practices in the Wychavon area.”