Unless mental health services are better supported, the
government's ‘three shifts' in health and care will not be
achieved, NHS trust leaders have warned.
Failing to support the mental health sector to address systemic
challenges it faces – including steep growth in and the changing
nature of demand, and the availability and consistency of
high-quality care - risks reinforcing its longstanding ‘secondary
status' compared to physical health services, with serious
knock-on effects for the rest of the health and care system.
A new report by NHS
Providers sets out an action plan for the mental health sector,
government and national NHS leaders to prioritise collectively to
provide ‘values driven, patient centred and staff enabled' mental
health care.
This will support the three shifts ministers want to make in
health - moving more care from hospitals to communities, making
better use of technology, and preventing rather than treating
sickness – as they prepare to unveil their 10 Year Health Plan
and aid the government's broader ambitions to get more people
back to work and grow the economy.
The report highlights examples of what NHS mental health trusts
and partners across the country are doing to transform care,
including delivering more specialist and long-term support closer
to home and more integrated and inclusive care designed with
people using services.
The report outlines key actions the mental health sector,
government and national bodies should collectively prioritise in
the short to medium term to support the government's three shifts
and better meet the mental health needs of individuals, society
and the economy over the next decade, including:
- Rolling out broader mental health
waiting time and access standards
- Addressing variation in the
availability and consistency of community-based mental health
care and support, including the support provided by mental health
social care services
- Developing and implementing
evidence-based care models and pathways for key areas - such as
neurodiversity and mental health urgent and emergency care - to
provide the right care, in the right place at the right time
The report recommends also that services should be:
- Values driven – Fundamental
principles should underpin a national vision for mental health
and leadership of the sector, including establishing ‘parity of
esteem' within national policy
- Patient centred – A better focus on
patients in key areas such as measuring productivity, improving
care models and harnessing data to better meet local needs
- Staff enabled – Caring for the
workforce helps staff to provide better care. We must cultivate a
well-looked after, empowered and multi-skilled workforce to
maximise mental health services' capacity and sustain service
improvements.
Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive, NHS Providers, said:
“It's high time that mental health was the national priority it
needs to be.
“We need to see clear political will and commitment to supporting
mental health trusts and their partners to tackle head-on the
deep-rooted challenges facing the mental health sector. We hope
very much that mental health will feature strongly in the
government's 10 Year Health Plan.
“The next three years are critical to ensuring that mental health
services can provide the improvements required to provide the
right care in the right place at the right time sustainably over
the next decade.
“To be able to rise to the challenge of providing better care
across the full spectrum of mental health needs for people and
their families, mental health services, government and NHS
leaders need together to prioritise taking national action in a
number of key areas outlined in our report. This will support the
government's ‘three shifts' for the good of patients, society and
the economy.
“The NHS has worked hard to respond to growing and changing
demand for mental health care provision by increasing access and
transforming models of care within available resources. However,
there is still far too much unmet need as well as challenges in
consistently providing high quality, safe care which we must
prioritise collectively and address nationally.”
