One in four adults has at least one diagnosable mental health problem in any year and if you experience mental illness you are five times more likely to be admitted to hospital as an emergency case.

The national strategy for mental health, published by NHS England earlier this year, set ambitious targets for making sure mental and physical health are seen as equally important.

However two teams based at South Tees and Sunderland Royal hospitals are already leading the way, showing how it’s possible to improve life-expectancy and quality of life for people with mental illness and help manage the growing pressures on health and social care services.

The Psychiatric Liaison Team service at Sunderland Royal, delivered by Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust and the Parkinson’s Acute Symptoms Unit (PASU) at South Tees, is helping people who have had a stroke, have lung disease or Parkinson’s deal with depression, anxiety and stress caused by their illness.

The PASU team is also providing support for their patients who are experiencing hallucinations, psychosis and dementia.

Kate Chartres, Nurse Consultant in the Psychiatric Liaison Team at Sunderland Royal, said: “Historically we were finding some people had had a stroke were not engaging with their treatment – it was taking them longer to recover and they were not recovering as much as expected.

“And patients with lung disease were suffering with anxiety and depression, which was making their condition worse. With both groups, high numbers of people were being re-admitted to hospital as a result of depression, anxiety or stress making their condition worse.”

For the past 18 months, Kate and the team have been working with staff on the wards at Sunderland Royal to identify people showing signs of mental health problems – and putting in place support for them within 24 hours. The team is now getting an average of 23 referrals a month.

Dr Neil Archibald is a Consultant Neurologist at South Tees Hospital. He has established a team to provide people with Parkinson’s disease a range of support services, including psychological and psychiatric support.

He said: “Out of every 1,000 people with Parkinson’s, we are seeing around 350 with some kind of cognitive problems.

“These can range from anxiety and depression, to psychosis, hallucinations and dementia. We found that these additional mental health problems just weren’t being addressed, causing more problems for people with the disease. They were being admitted to nursing homes prematurely and were more likely to be admitted to hospital as an emergency case.

“Our team in the Unit includes a physio, a pharmacist, a community psychiatric nurse, a psychiatrist and an occupational therapist.

“Patients are given a set time to arrive for an appointment – but they can stay as long as they need to, so that we can really focus as a team on getting them the right support and treatment. We focus on the whole-person, not just the symptoms of the disease.”

Dr Mike Prentice is Medical Director for NHS England across the North. He said: “It is so important that there is a shift in attitudes towards physical and mental health. By 2020/21 there will be an extra £1 billion a year funding for mental health services.

“There are challenges, but the teams at South Tees, Sunderland and Northumberland Tyne and Wear show what can be achieved when people are prepared to work differently. At a national level, NHS England is looking at schemes like these two, to see what can be learnt and shared across the country.”