Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams Update - August 2026

Message from the Director 

As we move closer to the launch of our new Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams, a great deal of work continues behind the scenes to ensure we are ready.

Alongside the many workstreams supporting mobilisation, regular assurance reviews are helping us track progress and address any issues before go-live.

I recognise that this has been a demanding period for many colleagues. With staff mapping now largely complete, attention is turning to the practical work needed to bring the new teams together and prepare for day one. Letters confirming staff’s positions are being sent out but this may take a few weeks.  Please don’t worry if you have not yet received one.

I would particularly like to thank everyone involved in the caseload reviews. This is detailed work that takes time and careful judgement, but it is helping us understand people's needs, plan transfers appropriately and support a smooth handover into the new model. The effort being invested now will help provide continuity for people using our services and give teams a stronger starting point when they begin working together.

Our focus over the next month includes:

• Sharing the new Standing Operating Procedure and supporting teams to become familiar with the new ways of working.
• Increasing our communication activities along with launching updates to people under our care to let them know about the changes.
• Bringing the initial phase of caseload reviews to a close and moving into ongoing oversight ahead of launch. Finalising team establishments and progressing recruitment where vacancies remain, including new roles that will support assessment and care navigation.
• Continuing work to bring teams together through co-location and service integration, while addressing local challenges and practical arrangements.

Thank you for the professionalism, patience and flexibility you continue to show. Change on this scale is not always easy, and I know many colleagues are balancing transformation work alongside their day-to-day responsibilities. The progress made so far reflects the commitment and expertise across our services, and I am grateful for your ongoing support as we move towards launch.

Georgina Foulds – Director of Neighbourhood Mental Health

Why are we moving to Neighbourhood Teams?

With so much focus on planning, mobilisation and preparing for launch, it can sometimes be difficult to keep hold of why we are making these changes in the first place.

The development of Neighbourhood Teams is the latest stage in a transformation journey that SABP has been on since 2019. In response to NHS England's Community Mental Health Framework, we began redesigning services to provide more joined-up, community-based support and strengthen links between mental health services, primary care, social care and the voluntary sector.

Since then, we have established 31 specialist multidisciplinary teams working within Primary Care Networks across Surrey and Northeast Hampshire, introduced 11 multi-agency Pathway Forums to improve transitions between services, invested in a growing VCSE and lived experience workforce, and developed new specialist services including AEDimhs, the Service User Network and Managing Emotions programme, and HomeFirst.

These developments have strengthened community mental health support, but demand for services continues to grow and, like many NHS organisations, we need models of care that are both effective today and sustainable for the future.

The launch of Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams is our next step. By bringing together our core community services alongside system partners, we aim to reduce fragmentation, strengthen multidisciplinary working and make it easier for people to access coordinated support closer to home.

We also know from organisations that have already implemented similar approaches that bringing services together around local neighbourhoods can improve coordination, strengthen partnerships and support a better experience for both staff and people using services. Programmes in Somerset, East London and Central and North West London have reported benefits including more integrated working across organisations, clearer pathways and better connected care.

As we approach launch, our focus is on building on the foundations already in place and creating a model that is more connected, resilient and centred around the needs of local people.

Programme Delivery Team

The GPimhs and MHICS SystmOne merger starts next week

GPimhs and MHICS teams will move from their separate SystmOne units into the shared Brief Intervention for Significant Need unit during September and October 2026.

The move is an important foundation for neighbourhood teams and will help colleagues work more flexibly and consistently across services, enabling better continuity of care and more joined-up support for people who use our services.

Each team has a scheduled merger date. On each date, the team being merged and every team already in the shared unit will be affected.

Colleagues will receive reminders before and on the day. There are important actions covering referrals, patient-related tasks, waiting lists and appointments. Colleagues must save their work and log out by 4.30pm. From 9am the following morning, they can log into the new unit and work as normal.

The way SystmOne looks and works will not change. Clinical information will move into the shared unit, while some operational information will be recreated and checked by Digital.

Read more about the merger, and visit the unit merge intranet page to find your team’s date and read the step-by-step guidance.

Preparing for New Ways of Working

A programme of training, organisational development and communications activity is being put in place to help staff understand and prepare for the changes ahead.

Training activity has already begun during August with senior leadership planning and will continue throughout September and October as the programme is rolled out more widely. During September, sessions will be delivered for professional leads, managers and Band 7 clinical leads, helping to build understanding of the new ways of working and support local implementation. Throughout October, all staff allocated to each of the new 13 teams will join local launch events alongside VCSE colleagues and key partners. Additional arrangements will also be developed for administrative staff. From November onwards there will be a programme of support to focus on team development.

Programme Delivery Team