The team has been recognised for its innovative work and celebrated with cake in their offices in Bedford.
 |
 |
A few team members attended the awards ceremony on Wednesday 6 November 2025, at The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 21 Prescot Street in London.
The Community Mental Heath Service in Bedford serves a diverse population of nearly 197,000, across four Primary Care Networks and two Recovery Teams. The service identified significant operational challenges including high caseloads, rushed care planning, and reactive service delivery that impacted both service user experience and staff morale. In response, the team launched a QI project aimed at standardising and enhancing person-centred care planning.
With clear objectives and a data driven methodology, the team aimed to reduce their caseload by 25% within 12 months, followed by a further 10% reduction over the subsequent six months. This aim was exceeded, and total reduction was stabilised at 44%. This was achieved by embedding structured, collaborative discharge planning that focused on recovery goals, resulting in more timely and clinically appropriate transitions out of the service. Using a mixed methods approach – drawing on Power BI data, service user review metrics, workforce insights, and direct service user feedback – the team delivered measurable improvements in consistency, care quality, and discharge outcomes. Staff confidence grew as service offers were clarified and variation.
