INVERCLYDE'S support services for people living with mental illness have received pass marks from inspectors as they continue to build back from the impact of the Covid pandemic.

A review of the adult services offered by the district's health and social care partnership (HSCP), carried out between October last year and March this year, found that most people living with mental illness experienced positive outcomes from the treatment and care they received.

The joint inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate gave three ‘good’ and two ‘adequate’ ratings in the five key areas that were examined, praising the 'warm relationships' between staff and people and the HSCP's 'values of collaboration, compassion and inclusion'.

A report stated that the prevalence of mental illness in Inverclyde is higher than for Scotland as a whole, noting that the region was 'badly affected' by the Covid-19 pandemic and was 'still in a period of recovery' at the time of the inspection.

Inspectors said people’s outcomes were 'not always as good as they could be', highlighting a need for systems and processes to be updated and a comprehensive plan developed for the future of health and social care services for people living with mental illness.

The report said: "The partnership needs to work collaboratively to develop robust improvement and commissioning plans for its mental health services.

"It needs to put in place suitable structures and processes to support implementation of its plans.

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"Given the partnership’s key strengths and its early response to the findings of the inspection, we have a good level of confidence that it will be able to make the improvements required.

"This will contribute to more consistent and sustainable positive health and wellbeing outcomes for adults living with mental illness and their unpaid carers."

The report said some steps have already been taken to improve services, with new staff appointed, a new strategic plan under development and a recently refreshed health board-wide strategy underpinning that work.

Councillor Robert Moran, chair of the Inverclyde integration joint board (IJB) which oversees local health and social care functions, said: “It has been an extremely challenging time for health and social care services as they recover from the legacy issues of the Covid pandemic and coping with staffing issues that have been experienced right across the sector.

“Despite that, staff have continued to deliver quality adult services for the people and communities of Inverclyde and I’m pleased that their hard work and dedication has been highlighted by inspectors.

“The report really does emphasise how much of a caring and compassionate place Inverclyde is for all and how much staff go above and beyond to deliver for service users.

“However, we cannot be complacent and must always strive to do better and the report also provides useful feedback on areas where improvements can be made, and I know great strides are already being made in that regard.

“While the HSCP is in an unprecedented position of having to make £5.2 million worth of savings over the next two years to help address a funding shortfall, work is well underway to redesign services across the board and deliver them in different ways while ensuring the best possible care and support for those who need it.”

The full report is available at careinspectorate.com.