Blackpool and Lancashire
Mwanga provides specialist, needs led and person centred mental health assessments in the community, including mental capacity, best interests and risk assessments Mwanga will provide ADHD and autism assessments for both children and adults. Our assessments will be person centred, strengths based and needs led, recognising each individual’s unique experiences, circumstances and support needs.
Three routes into the service, depending on who you are and what you need. Each leads to a written report you can act on.
Assessments under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, carried out by a Registered Mental Health Nurse and Best Interests Assessor.
Neurodevelopmental assessment for children, young people and adults, using nationally recognised tools and NICE-aligned methods.
Neurodevelopmental assessment and staff training delivered inside prisons, secure settings and nursery environments.
We are not part of the organisation asking the question. That independence is the point of instructing us.
We are clear about what we can and cannot do. Where an assessment needs a psychiatrist or paediatrician, we say so rather than stretching a scope of practice.
Every piece of work produces a written report with reasoning you can follow and check, not just a conclusion.
We're clear about the limits of our expertise. Where an assessment calls for input from a psychiatrist, paediatrician or other specialist, we say so and recommend the right onward referral rather than working beyond our competence.
Mwanga is more than an assessment service. We take part in mental health awareness work across Blackpool, including community events and stalls where people can pick up information without needing an appointment or having to explain themselves to anyone.
Mwanga was set up to shorten the wait for assessment on the Fylde coast. Waiting lists for ADHD and autism assessment in Blackpool and Lancashire run to years, and people who need a capacity assessment often need one quickly.
The service is led by a Registered Mental Health Nurse who is also a qualified Best Interests Assessor. Assessment work is carried out at our premises on Alexandra Road, and we are working towards delivering clinics in community pharmacies closer to where people live.
Most people reach us after trying the usual routes first. These are the things they tell us, and what we do about them.
No part of this should be a surprise. Here is the whole route from first contact to the point where you have something you can use.
You get in touch
Call, email, or send the enquiry form. You do not need a referral letter or a diagnosis to start a conversation, and you will not be asked to explain yourself twice.
A short conversation about what is actually needed and what decision rests on it. If another service is a better fit, we say so rather than take the work.
Somewhere quiet to sit first if that helps. An assessment carried out while someone is overwhelmed tells you very little about how they usually manage.
Structured, unhurried, and drawing on more than one source of information. You can bring someone with you.
A written report setting out what was found and the reasoning behind it, with recommendations and referral where they are needed. We stay reachable afterwards.
“Mwanga” means light in Swahili. People on long waiting lists often feel forgotten. An assessment should be the point where that changes.
We have built partnerships with community pharmacies, commissioners and healthcare professionals to make assessment services more accessible within local communities. If you run a pharmacy with suitable consultation space, commission neurodevelopmental services, or are a clinician interested in working with Mwanga on a sessional basis, we would be pleased to hear from you.
