Healthwatch Middlesbrough published a new report on 22 May 2026, which highlights significant gaps in mental health support across Middlesbrough and the wider County Durham and Tees Valley area. The report, titled Staying With People: What Lived Experience Tells Us About Mental Health Support, draws on firsthand accounts from patients, families, and carers to identify challenges such as long waiting times, missed calls, and difficulties in accessing crisis care.
The research was commissioned at the request of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) to better understand how residents experience rehabilitation, reablement, crisis responses, and community mental health pathways. Throughout the process, the report identified several consistent themes. These include residents being passed between services without clear ownership of their care, unclear discharge plans, and digital barriers that prevent people from accessing the help they need. In one instance, a resident named Claire described her experience in the Tees Valley area, noting she was told, “If you were suicidal, you wouldn’t be here,” highlighting a pattern where individuals feel they are not believed when expressing suicidal thoughts.
To address these issues, the report recommends the development of an integrated Rehabilitation & Reablement Support Team that would operate across County Durham and Tees Valley. This proposed team would focus on five key areas: providing specialist follow-up after discharge or crisis, ensuring a named worker holds the care plan, utilising trauma-informed and neurodiversity-informed practices, offering better support for families and carers, and building stronger partnerships with voluntary and community organisations.
In response to the findings, the North East & North Cumbria Integrated Care Board has acknowledged the report and committed to continuing to engage with service users to improve care pathways. According to the report, “People across County Durham and Tees Valley have been telling us the same thing for years. When support works, it’s because someone stays, listens, and follows through. When it doesn’t, people are left navigating services alone, repeating their story, waiting for calls that don’t come, and reaching crisis without the support they need.” The Pioneering Care Partnership, which delivers the Healthwatch Middlesbrough contract, noted that these findings are now being considered as part of existing workstreams to enhance mental health provision.
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