Thousands more seen sooner as community mental health waiting times fall

A new joined-up partnership approach is helping to reduce waiting times for people who need community mental health support across Kent and Medway.

Through Mental Health Together (MHT), delivered by Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust in partnership with the NHS, community and voluntary providers, waiting times for community mental health teams (CMHTs) have dropped by 10.1% since April 2025, reflecting steady improvements across the framework.

Nearly 8 in 10 people are now seen within the 18-week target, and 92% of community patients receive a crisis response within 4 hours. This means people are getting the help and care they need, faster.

MHT is a new service that leads NHS teams and community and voluntary organisations, including Shaw Trust, Porchlight, and Invicta Health across Kent and Medway. It helps people access the right mental health support at the right time, without being passed between different providers.

Waiting times are now measured across all organisations in the partnership, not just NHS teams. This gives a clearer and more realistic picture of demand and helps plan care better and more fairly.

Some areas are already seeing strong results. In Medway, there are no 52-week breaches, with 88% of patients starting treatment within 18 weeks.

The partnership knows that waiting for mental health support can be difficult. Teams are working hard to improve access and people’s experience of care. This includes offering more group sessions, holding weekly meetings to track progress, and making sure appointments are recorded and followed up properly.

Following a positive pilot, Change Grow Live (CGL) and Forward Trust have joined Mental Health Together to improve support for people with both mental health and substance misuse needs. Working alongside NHS services, voluntary sector partners provide extra support for substance misuse and wider wellbeing, helping people get the right care more quickly in one joined-up system.

Extra resources and roles are also strengthening clinical capacity. Waiting times for dementia diagnosis have halved following the rollout of a new dedicated Memory Assessment Service (MAS), helping people get assessed and access care earlier. In addition, a pharmacist and pharmacy technician are now embedded in every CMHT, improving access to medicines advice and allowing clinicians to spend more time with patients.

Dr Afifa Qazi, Chief Medical Officer and Consultant Psychiatrist at Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, said:

“Waiting for mental health care can be very hard, and we know how important it is to reduce delays with this. Mental Health Together is already making a real difference by bringing partners together and focusing on what matters to patients.

“By being open about demand, improving how we work, and adding new partners, roles and services, we are reducing waits and improving patients’ experience of care. These results show that working as one system really works.”

While demand for mental health services continues to rise, the partnership’s focus is now on sustaining these improvements and making sure people continue to receive timely, high-quality care in their local communities.