Claire Murdoch, The NHS Senior Responsible Officer for Mental Health, has invited West Hampshire CCG as a mental health stakeholder to inform the long term plan about the development of mental health services.
In the introduction to this request she celebrates the progress that has been made, but acknowledges making parity between mental and physical health a reality will take time. The NHS goal post 2021 is to deliver world-class mental health care, which will mean going even further to improve access to high-quality care for our mental health needs, integrate services and focus on improving the outcomes for everyone who uses NHS services.
Clare has identified three key questions about the challenges of improving outcomes for all of our Mental Health needs. As a stakeholder we are also invited to consider and respond on a further 8 questions. The consultation is linked to a five year funding settlement as part of the 10 year long term plan.
I would urge you to take the time to respond to all of the questions and at the very least, to the first three questions. Your views will closely inform our local response to Clare Murdoch.
1. What are your top three priorities for meeting the mental health needs of people of all ages in England? Over the next five, and ten years?
2. What gaps in service provision currently exist, and how do you think the NHS should address them (these can overlap with Q1 but may include a longer list)?
3. People with physical health problems do not always have their mental health needs addressed; and people with mental health problems do not always have their physical health needs met.
How do you think we can improve this?
4. There are some significant inequalities in how people access and experience care for their mental health needs, and in their outcomes, including but not limited to people who have ‘protected characteristics’ under the Equality Act 2010.
What are your views on what practical steps the NHS should take to address inequalities in the services it provides?
5. How best can we bridge the gap between children’s and adults’ mental health services?
6. How can we recruit, train and retain the workforce to deliver the changes we need, particularly to meet your priorities (Q1 above)?
7. Do you think the NHS should be doing more to prevent mental ill-health? If so, what should we do to improve this?
8. Do you think the NHS could do more to intervene early for people with mental ill-health? If so, are there any Mental Health problems we should prioritise to provide better early intervention?
9. People with more serious and complex mental health problems do not always receive the care they need. Which groups would you prioritise and what extra help would you like to see developed by the NHS?
10. Are there examples of innovative/excellent practice (in mental health care or that could be applied from other areas) that you think could be scaled-up nationally to enhance the quality of care people receive for their mental health, reduce costs and/or improve efficiency of delivery?
11. What do you think are the specific challenges that will prevent the NHS from being able to deliver good mental health care, and what should we do to overcome them?*
* Whilst the importance of developing NHS services that promote prevention and are fully integrated with all of the relevant services (e.g. social care, employment and housing support) will be a key component of developing the Long Term Plan for the NHS, Local Authority budgets and the budget for Public Health England are not within the scope of the funding settlement for the NHS. We do, however, acknowledge the interdependencies of the health, community and social sectors; and will be sharing feedback with partners to your ideas can be heard.