Charity plays vital role in new course to support mental health patients

Charity plays vital role in new course to support mental health patients

Cardiff-based charity Riverside Advice has played a leading role in the launch of a new training course designed to support people reintegrating into the community following crisis treatment.

Riverside Advice, which is part funded by British Gas Energy Trust, is working with the Mental Health Recovery and Wellbeing College to develop and deliver the innovative ‘Preparing for Discharge’ course.

The five-session course aims to transform how people living with severe mental health challenges prepare to return to independent living once discharged from hospital.

Riverside Advice co-facilities one of the five sessions, with a focus on the patient’s finances, including energy issues – offering one-to-one appointments for patients taking part in the course, which CEO Barbara Kerridge says is an effective way to triage support rather than simply providing a number or email.

Barbara said: “We’ve been providing welfare and financial advice to people with mental health illnesses for 25 years, and this partnership developed naturally from our work within Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. Early in our involvement at Hafan Y Coed (the mental health hospital for Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan), word spread about the positive outcomes we were achieving with patients on the wards, and we were invited to co-facilitate a session at the College focused on finances and energy management. It was a natural fit.

“As support and advice services are stretched thin, access to services is particularly difficult for those with mental health illness who experience barriers and many fall through the cracks, particularly once they are in hospital. Hospital staff are obviously not trained or qualified in solving these issues and are also too busy to support. This means that is difficult for people with mental health illnesses, particularly hospital inpatients to climb out of this position. Our attendance at the hospital has been crucial and transitional in helping many out of this position and equipping them with knowledge to management better in the future and reduce the impact on their mental health.”

Through individual appointments and tailored workshops, Riverside Advice’s advisors help patients resolve issues such as benefit suspensions, debt, and housing insecurity – all common challenges for those recovering from a mental health crisis. Many patients have no identification, no bank account, or no income at all, and are unsure how to navigate complex systems such as Universal Credit or energy billing.

The support goes beyond advice. Riverside Advice can also provide essential white goods to prevent delays in discharge, ensuring patients aren’t left without basic household items when they return home.

Barbara said: “Debt is often a trigger for spiral downwards into mental health crisis, and if someone is in mental health crisis they are less likely to keep on top of their affairs and so debts occur, and sometimes excessive compulsive spending.

“These complex cases often require time and patience to untangle, as patients may be isolated from wider support systems and hospital staff may not have the specialist knowledge or capacity to deal with these non-clinical, but nevertheless, critical issues.

“Patients consistently report that the practical advice they receive helps relieve anxiety about financial and housing matters, which in turn supports their mental wellbeing. Hospital staff also value our presence, noting that having a dedicated welfare adviser relieves pressure on clinical teams and allows them to focus on medical care.”

The partnership has already had a measurable impact. Since the project began nearly two years ago, Riverside Advice has provided direct casework to around 100 inpatients — complex cases where comprehensive support was needed — and reached many more through group sessions. Hospital readmission rates among those supported have fallen dramatically, from 33% to just 7.4%, almost 80% lower than the national average.

Barbara added: “The ongoing support and funding provided by the British Gas Energy Trust has been instrumental in establishing and maintaining this work. It provides accessible and holistic services, on an early intervention basis through referral.”

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