The Mental Health Secure Care Programme was established in 2016 to deliver the recommendations in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health for care in the least restrictive setting, as close to home as possible and with a stronger focus on recovery.

The programme, as outlined in Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, aims to improve the experience and outcomes of people using secure mental health services, substantially reduce the number of people sent ‘out of area’ for care, and reduce the dependency on hospital beds through increased community provision:

• Between 2018-21 the programme will support 17 sites to pilot the Specialist Community Forensic Team (SCFT), a new co-produced model of care that identifies opportunities for reducing length of stay where an appropriate community forensic service is in place.
• As outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan Implementation Framework, NHS-led provider collaboratives will become the vehicle for rolling-out the specialist community forensic care.
• Between 2018-21 the programme is also supporting three sites to pilot the Women’s Secure Blended Service, a new co-designed model of care that seeks to address the specific needs of women in secure mental health services. The Women’s Secure Blended Service aims to:
  • substantially reduce transitions for women by ‘blending’ medium and low secure adult services in a single location
  • improve the experience and outcomes for women through a focus on relational security and trauma-informed care and environments.

For more information on any aspect of the Mental Health Secure Care Programme, please email england.sc.mh@nhs.net