C01. Specialised Mental Health

Scope

This Clinical Reference Group (CRG) covers mental health services for deaf people, services for people with eating disorders and Tier 4 personality disorders.

The main focus of the CRG is on consolidating work already undertaken. For Tier 4 personality disorder, this is about ensuring the service specification is adopted by NHS England and work is performed with CCGs to ensure universal adoption of the standards no matter who the commissioner is. For eating disorders, development of specific referral criteria is a priority as part of a wider pathway of work to ensure the effective use of community services.

Membership

  • Chair: Dr Mike Hunter, Associate National Clinical Director for Mental Health, NHS England and NHS Improvement
  • Prof Naomi Fineberg
  • Dr Alexander Hamilton
  • Dr Steve Pearce
  • Sophie Roberts
  • Dr Frances Connan
  • Rebecca Quinlan, Patient and Public Voice representative
  • Seren Thomas, Patient and Public Voice representative

Products

A key part of the CRG’s work is the delivery of the ‘products’ of commissioning. These are the tools used by the 10 Hub Commissioning Teams to contract services on an annual basis.

Service Specifications

Service specifications are important in clearly defining the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England to provide specialised care. The specifications have been developed by specialised clinicians, commissioners, expert patients and public health representatives to describe both core and developmental service standards. Core standards are those that all funded providers should be able to demonstrate, with developmental standards being those which may require further changes in practice over time to provide excellence in the field.

The following service specifications fall within the scope of this CRG: