Mental health: priorities for change

The UK Department of Health released a strategy document yesterday outlining 25 priorities for change in mental health services in the UK. The 25 items are below and clearly relevant to much of the research work ongoing in the centre here. 

"1. High-quality mental health services with an emphasis on recovery should be commissioned in all areas, reflecting local need ....................................................................10
2. We will lead an information revolution around mental health and wellbeing ......................11
3. We will, for the first time, establish clear waiting time limits for mental health services .....12
4. We will tackle inequalities around access to mental health services .................................13
5. Over 900,000 people will benefit from psychological therapies every year........................14
6. There will be improved access to psychological therapies for children and young people across the whole of England. .................................................................................................15
7. The most effective services will get the most funding. .......................................................15
8. Adults will be given the right to make choices about the mental health care they receive. 16
9. We will radically reduce the use of all restrictive practices and take action to end the use of high risk restraint, including face down restraint and holding people on the floor ..................17
10.We will use the Friends and Family Test to allow all patients to comment on their experience of mental health services – including children’s mental health services ..............17
11.Poor quality services will be identified sooner and action taken to improve care and where necessary protect patients .....................................................................................................18
12.Carers will be better supported and more closely involved in decisions about mental health service provision..........................................................................................................19
Integrating physical and mental health care .....................................................................20
13.Mental health care and physical health care will be better integrated at every level .........20
14.We will change the way frontline health services respond to self-harm ............................21
15.No-one experiencing a mental health crisis should ever be turned away from services ...22
Starting early to promote mental wellbeing and prevent mental health problems ........24
16.We will offer better support to new mothers to minimise the risks and impacts of postnatal depression. ............................................................................................................................24
17.Schools will be supported to identify mental health problems sooner ...............................25
18.We will end the cliff-edge of lost support as children and young people with mental health needs reach the age of 18 .....................................................................................................26
Improving the quality of life of people with mental health problems ..............................27
19.People with mental health problems will live healthier lives and longer lives. ...................27 7
Closing the gap: priorities for essential change in mental health
20.More people with mental health problems will live in homes that support recovery ..........28
21.We will introduce a national liaison and diversion service so that the mental health needs of offenders will be identified sooner and appropriate support provided ................................29
22.Anyone with a mental health problem who is a victim of crime will be offered enhanced support. ..................................................................................................................................30
23.We will support employers to help more people with mental health problems to remain in or move into work...................................................................................................................30
24.We will develop new approaches to help people with mental health problems who are unemployed to move into work and seek to support them during periods when they are unable to work........................................................................................................................32
25.We will stamp out discrimination around mental health.....................................................33"