Addressing London’s mental health – building relationships to transform provision

Helen Gilburt, Fellow in Health Policy at the King’s Fund writes about developing a five year action plan for London’s mental health.

In 2013 the King’s Fund were asked by the London Mental Health Chief Executives Group to undertake an independent piece of research to develop a vision of mental health provision in the capital over the next 5-10 years.  Our report ‘Transforming Mental Health: a plan of action for London’ is the culmination of this process.

The project began with a workshop that brought together key stakeholders in London including the NHS, social care and voluntary sector providers, commissioners from local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups, academics, service users and carers. With a focus on public mental health and acute services, a clear set of priorities for future provision emerged on which there was consensus.

Many of the priorities identified, such as greater integration of services, a focus on preventative interventions and more holistic approaches fall beyond the remit of individual providers and instead require systemic solutions.  However, as the process progressed it was clear that achieving the cross-organisational working required to deliver the vision presented a significant challenge. This not only limited our ability to develop a plan but got to the heart of many of the issues facing mental health provision.