Relaunch of Pathfinder West Sussex

The new contract is led by BHT Sussex as the lead provider, in partnership with West Sussex Mind, bringing on board new partners from the homelessness sector and offering comprehensive coverage across the whole of West Sussex.

Pathfinder West Sussex will offer adults a range of support with their mental and physical health, including:

• Information, advice and guidance through a single helpline

• One-to-one and group support sessions

• Peer support from people with lived experience of mental health

• Community activities to increase confidence and create connection

• Physical health interventions

• Homelessness support

• Employment support for people with mental health problems.

What’s new about Pathfinder West Sussex?

Pathfinder brings together a number of trusted organisations from across the county to provide support and works closely with the local NHS and GP surgeries, making it easier to get information, find support or get specialist advice.

By offering a single point of access and a "no wrong front door" approach, it ensures that people are guided to the support they need, regardless of where they first made contact.

Support is free and available to anyone over 18 living in West Sussex. The service will be able to ‘step people up’ for clinical care with NHS services if required and, when they are discharged from NHS care, they will be able to find support in the community. The idea is that people get ongoing support and learn more about managing their mental health, recognising that people’s mental health can fluctuate over time.

How to get support

• Call our Help Point on freephone 0300 303 5652 to speak to one of our friendly team, who will guide you to the right support for your needs.
• Email helppoint@pathfinderwestsussex.org.uk.
• Complete an online form on the Pathfinder website.

Who is involved?

Pathfinder West Sussex includes voluntary sector and NHS partners working together to improve people’s wellbeing across the county.

The partners are: BHT Sussex (the lead provider), West Sussex Mind, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Stonepillow, Turning Tides, CAPITAL, Crawley Open House and Southdown.

West Sussex Mind’s CEO, Kerrin Page, said: “We’re excited to launch this new chapter for Pathfinder West Sussex, bringing together trusted organisations to improve the wellbeing of people across the county and help people get the right support when they need it.

“We want to ensure that there is 'no wrong front door’ to mental health support and that everyone in our community can find information, guidance and wellbeing support through our single helpline.”

Rachael Kenny, director of mental health and support services at BHT Sussex, said: “Getting the right help, at the right time, in a way that works for you, is so important for mental health recovery. We are determined to make sure that Pathfinder is available to everyone in West Sussex who needs it.”

Co-produced services

The newly relaunched service is co-produced in partnership with people who use mental health services, their family and carers, who are involved in designing, delivering and monitoring Pathfinder services. This is done with the help of the West Sussex Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG), an independent network of people with lived or living experience of mental health who work together to improve mental health support through co-production with Pathfinder West Sussex partners.