Breaking Down Barriers In Mental Health

Mental health services must work more closely with employment and housing agencies and cut waiting lists for talking therapies in England, the mental health tsar says.

In his ‘Breaking down barriers – the clinical case for change’ report Professor Louis Appleby, traces the development of community services from former institutional care and sets out the case for the next stage of reform of community care reform.

The report is the latest in a series of reports from the Department of Health’s National Clinical Directors or ‘Tsars’ and National Advisers focused on the clinical reasons for making changes to the ways that services are delivered.

Professor Appleby said: “We no longer rely on beds to help people with serious difficulties – and patients are given care that they prefer by specialist teams. There has been a major reshaping of front-line services around the needs of patients in the community.

“However, changes will not end there. The next stage in the reconfiguration of mental health services will further strengthen care in the community – breaking down barriers in the way services are delivered. At the heart of these changes will be workforce reform, with the skills of staff more closely aligned to the needs of patients – modern treatments, a better quality of life, social opportunities and improved physical health.”

There are now more than 700 specialised mental health teams across 60 mental health trusts which can identify and address problems earlier, provide home treatment as an alternative to hospital and engage patients who do not respond to traditional care. They are staffed by a range of professionals, so that patients get the best of nursing, clinical psychology and social care.

The report says: “The next stage in the reconfiguration of mental health services will further strengthen care in the community – breaking down barriers in the way services are delivered. At the heart of these changes will be workforce reform, with the skills of staff more closely aligned to the needs of patients – modern treatments, a better quality of life, social opportunities and improved physical health.”