The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is making a further £540m available over the coming financial year for the support of frontline NHS services, including mental health and primary care.
In ‘Refreshing NHS Plans for 2018/19’, NHS England and NHS Improvement maintain the focus on improving mental health services, underlining the goals already set out in previous reports (1) and reminding providers of the key deliverables for 2018/19.
This investment is to support the specific trajectories set for 2018/19 to deliver the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health with CCGs and STPs expected to make progress against each of the core deliverables.
CCGs must meet the Mental Health Investment Standard by which their 2018/19 investment in mental health must rise at a faster rate than their overall programme funding.
Among the specific targets to be met/progress to be made include:
* An additional 49,000 children and young people to receive treatment from NHS-commissioned community services (2020/21 target is 70,000)
* Progress towards the target of 95% of children and young people with eating disorders receiving first definitive treatment with four weeks for routine cases (one week for urgent cases)
* Further reducing inpatient stays for children and young people
* Increasing access to specialist perinatal mental health services to an additional 9,000 women and boosting bed numbers to increase overall capacity by 49%
* Continue to improve access to psychology therapies (IAPT) services by commissioning 1,000 replacement practitioners and a further 1,000 trainees
* Continue to work towards the 2020/21 ambition that all acute hospitals will have mental health crisis and liaison services to meet the needs of all age groups
* Ensure 53% of patients requiring early intervention for psychosis receive NICE concordant care within two weeks
* Support STP-level plans to reduce inappropriate out-of-area adult acute care placements by 2020/21.
Download the full guidance document here.
(1) Implementing the Mental Health Forward View (July 2016) and Stepping Forward to 2020/21 (July 2017)
