February has seen us as busy as ever, launching our latest briefing on Integrated Care Systems and new research on commissioning liaison psychiatry. We’ve been all over the country sharing our work at conferences, hosting workshops, and speaking to politicians and community groups about children’s mental health.
We welcomed this week’s Marmot Report on health inequalities – at the Centre we’re clear that tackling mental health inequalities must be a top priority for the Government. We’ll be launching the second briefing of our Commission for Equality in a few weeks’ time on access to treatment, so do look out for that.
Next week there’s lots more going on, with the launch of our evaluation of the New Care Models for children’s mental health, plus a podcast with Sir John Hills discussing equality. Make sure you get the latest updates by following us on social media @CentreforMH – and do let us know your thoughts!
How could Integrated Care Systems bring about significant and lasting improvement for people’s mental health?
Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) bring together NHS organisations and upper tier local authorities in an area to plan health and care services together across the system. They have a unique opportunity to bring mental and physical health together in an equal partnership to deliver better health for all.
The briefing sets out how improving mental health can prevent other health problems, and make the whole NHS more effective and efficient. Download the briefing here
Liaison psychiatry services offer specialist mental health expertise within general hospitals. Recent Government policy has committed to ensuring that all hospitals in England with an emergency department also have a liaison psychiatry service.
This research sought to identify the challenges faced by commissioners of liaison psychiatry services, and to see if these challenges were shared by hospital managers and mental health clinicians working within the services.
How can economic theory help us improve mental health services?
Chief Economist Nick O'Shea takes us on a whistlestop tour of the economic theories that can help us make better decisions on how to commission and provide mental health services.
He looks at how we measure the success of a mental health service; postcode lotteries in treatment; cost-shunting and fractured markets; the online provision of mental health support; and how we can present useful data in a way that makes a difference. This is a video summary of a briefing paper available here.
