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Mental health taskforce receives huge response

The independent chair of the Mental Health Taskforce says the astonishing levels of engagement confirm the importance and urgency of the group’s work:

In embarking on the work of the mental health taskforce, our first priority has been to ensure we have the view of people who use services, their families, and professionals who work in mental health.

The response has been astonishing.

Over 20,000 people have taken part in our online survey, including people with lived experience of mental health problems, their family and friends, mental health and other health and social care professionals and the general public.

We have also engaged with communities whose voices are seldom heard, particularly those groups most marginalised by society. They have provided powerful messages about the diverse range of needs that services still fail to meet.

The huge response has shown us the strength of feeling around the need to improve services for mental health. There is a clear consensus among everyone we have spoken to so far that things need to happen – and urgently.

We know there are some excellent initiatives underway, such as the Crisis Care Concordat, which in time will have a real and significant impact on the quality of care people receive. But we need also to look at what we can do for everyone struggling with their mental health and asking the NHS for help now and in the future, whatever their age or background.

At the NHS Confederation annual conference, Simon Stevens and I have outlined the emerging themes of the response so far, which focus on four main areas: prevention, access, integration and attitudes.

Prevention – along with early intervention – is key. People are telling of the need for greater awareness about mental health across the whole of the NHS and for the principles of prevention and early intervention to be applied across the system so that services can identify earlier when someone might need support. We also need to look at improving access to support for specific groups, such as pregnant women and children and young people.

Access is coming up time and time again. People want to quickly access high-quality, effective care and treatment, when they need it. We are hearing calls for a wider range of talking therapies, including suitable options and provision for people with complex needs and access within community/primary care. Overall we will look to reduce the variation in access across the country, reduce waiting times and reducing inequalities.

There is a very strong emphasis on integration across the system. People want the NHS to treat them as a whole person, wherever they are, whenever they ask for help and whatever their needs. Mental health support for people with long term physical health conditions is lacking, and the physical health needs of people with mental health problems should be taken more seriously. We also need to look at better integration of physical and mental healthcare for people with specific mental health needs such as eating disorders and psychosis, so we can reduce the numbers of people who die up to 20 years too early.

Overwhelmingly, people want to be treated with hope, dignity and respect. Proposed solutions for this include mental health awareness for all NHS staff, having staff skilled in psychological support across NHS settings and better training and support for GPs, not least in offering alternatives to medication.

The NHS workforce also needs to focus on its own wellbeing, so that it is fit and well enough to support people using its services. People want to be put at the heart of planning their own care and experience better continuity of care so that no one falls through the gaps between different parts of the system.

We have been hugely encouraged by the high level of engagement from the NHS and the Arms-Length Bodies. Together we are looking at solutions and approaches to develop these themes into a strong strategy.

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to feed into this process so far. I have been enormously impressed and encouraged by both the sheer quantity and the outstanding quality of the input we have had from all sides. One thing is for sure – we aren’t short of solutions.

The challenge for the taskforce now is to analyse all the information coming in and turn it into a workable plan of action. We are aiming to produce an ‘emerging findings’ report in the next month or so to use as a basis for further work across the NHS and beyond.

Paul Farmer

Paul Farmer has been Chief Executive of Mind, the leading mental health charity working in England and Wales since May 2006.

He is Chair of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO), the leading voice of the UK’s charity and social enterprise sector. Paul is also a trustee at Lloyds Bank Foundation which invests in charities supporting people to break out of disadvantage at critical points in their lives.

Paul is Chair of the NHS England Mental Health Taskforce – bringing together health and care leaders and experts in the field, including people using services, to lead a programme of work to create a mental health Five Year Forward View for the NHS in England.

Paul has an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of East London, is an Honorary Fellow of St Peter’s College Oxford and The Royal College of Psychiatrists, and was awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours 2016.

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3 comments

  1. keith parr says:

    There Is A Lot Of mental Health And CLDTS And Autism Service In England Dischargeing To Soon Refuse To Take More On Some Have Very Complex Neds And Neds Very Long Term Care Can Not Get It Have The Time Theres No One There To Do The Job They Keep Haveing Time Of.If Patients With Mental Neds To See There GPS They Refuse To Let Them See Female GPS.They Very Seldom Answers A Phone Patients Wants Free Presciptions And Free Parking In All The Hospitals.

  2. rob white says:

    Interesting emerging themes. Just doing a bespoke piece of work for an NHS Commissioing body and for me now simple to rember what we should be taking into account:

    – Prevention
    – Access
    – Integration
    – Diginity (hope & respect)

    PAID – what are we buying/commissioining/investing on behalf of individuals and families that truly address the above? Really good to keep this in the forefront of all our discussions

  3. JH says:

    Dear Paul

    Is there any update on progress of the publication of the ” Emerging Findings” Report mentioned in this plog please

    Much appreciated