Mental health needs true 'parity of esteem' or 'three shifts' plan risks failure

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."