Strengthening mental health care through lived experience
Published: 18/12/2025
Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) and NHS Performance and Improvement (NHS P&I) are collaborating to create a strategic plan that embeds lived experience within the new model of mental health care in Wales. This supports Welsh Government’s ambition to move away from complex care pathways towards a more person and relationship-centred model where every individual’s care and support is built from their own capabilities and experiences.
The plan will set out the offer for Lived Experience and outline how it should support the new open access model of care in Wales.
To help shape the plan, a series of engagement events are being held across Wales, bringing together NHS health boards, health and social care professionals, third sector organisations and people with lived and living experience. Hearing directly from healthcare professionals and service users is important to capture a true reflection from the current workforce on the possibilities and impact in embedding lived experience roles throughout Wales.
An overview of the first engagement event is available to learn more about the importance of this work.
Engagement event two: West Wales
The insights from the first stakeholder engagement event revealed a general consensus that peer support is crucial and the embedding of peer support roles plays an essential part in improving mental health care across Wales. Amongst lots of discussion, contributors identified role development, sustainability and career pathways as important considerations for the strategic plan.
Following this, a second event was held in West Wales to further explore opportunities for incorporating lived experience peer support within the new model and to contribute to the development of the strategic plan.
Held in Carmarthen, the event brought together over 50 attendees who listened, shared insights and engaged in meaningful discussions to inform the development of the strategic plan.
Highlights from the day included presentations from Swansea Bay and Hywel Dda University Health Boards on peer support and peer mentor roles. Attendees heard from people working in these roles and those working alongside them, across a variety of services. They touched on their journeys to working in lived experience roles, what their roles entail and the impact they have on the people around them. It was clear that above all else, their experience and their voices have been instrumental in supporting and delivering meaningful patient care across both health boards.
The event also welcomed Plattform, a charity for mental health and social change. During this session, the importance of relationships was highlighted and that a person’s mental health is heavily reliant on their ‘ecosystem’ around them, with relationships at the forefront. This supports the ideology around the importance of lived experience peer support and offering a safe and supportive environment for individuals to build trusting relationships, share their experiences and feel valued.
Angie Oliver, Deputy Director of Workforce & OD at HEIW said:
“We are thrilled with the opportunity to collaborate with NHS Performance and Improvement on this work. Lived experience is fundamental in delivering compassionate, effective and timely mental health care. Engaging with the workforce has enabled us to hear first-hand the impact lived experience roles has on delivering meaningful and quality patient care. We look forward to progressing this work and launching the plan in Spring 2026.”
Next steps
The third workshop taking place on January 14 in North Wales, will provide an opportunity to share the emerging priorities identified to date. It will also offer an opportunity to consider any additions to the strategic plan.
If you would like to find out more about this work, please contact the HEIW Mental Health Workforce Plan Team. Information on the wider work on the Strategic Mental Health Workforce Plan for Health and Social Care is available on the HEIW website.