Community Mental Health Transformation

NHS England have tasked all Integrated Care Systems to join up services and eliminate gaps in care
Women talking together in a support group

Background

ICBs across England have been tasked with transforming systems of care in line with the 2019 Community Mental Health Framework (CMHF). This policy initiative places the person at the centre of a needs led delivery of care within the system as a whole creating opportunities to change the culture of mental health service delivery. The ambition to eliminate gaps in care and create integration across VCSE, mental health providers and primary care is not supported by clear evidence, leaving systems to innovate. This programme of work, linked to the PenARC includes evaluations and a research evaluation in four sites and a set of knowledge exchange activities.

Overview of the work

We developed a consortium with three community pilot sites (East London, Hertfordshire and West Essex, and Somerset) alongside a central evaluation team, and have continued with a  research evaluation in Buckinghamshire.
The emphasis is on rapid feedback to support site development, and also sharing of generalisable knowledge of value to the NHS as a whole.

Aims

The aim of the evaluation collaboration is to maximise the learning opportunity provided by CMHF implementer sites to improve mental health services across England.
The scientific aims include:
  • To understand how the community mental health transformation can provide care to individuals who do not meet the threshold for secondary mental health services but are deemed inappropriate for primary care services such as IAPT. 
  • To identify how community pilots engage with and deliver more appropriate services individuals identified within key population groups i.e those with a personality disorder, eating disorder or in need of rehabilitation services etc.
  • To explore the role of local collaborations across a range of agencies in the transformation of service provision in each site. 
  • To understand the key characteristics which contribute to effective implementation.
  • To gain a better understanding of the needs of the workforce across statutory agencies and VCSE's.
  • To understand how the new models of service delivery are supporting the reduction of health inequalities.
  • To identify how the culture change process can be assisted during implementation.

Progress and knowledge exchange

We have completed three evaluations and written reports are available from the sites. University of Plymouth Knowledge Exchange Fund has supported dissemination. 
We have synthesised learning from across sites and delivered three webinars – please see links below.
We are also offering support in the form of local workshops to sites wanting to develop their services further. If you would like to discuss this with us please email: cmhke@plymouth.ac.uk
Additionally the MHRI team have developed a South West Community Mental Health Knowledge Mobilisation Network for individuals to exchange ideas and support each other in the complex task of community mental health transformation.

Watch our webinars

Our webinar sessions are based on the theme of Community Systems and Mental Health

Plymouth collaborators

External collaborators

  • Vanessa Pinfold

    Vanessa Pinfold

    The McPin Foundation
  • John Gibson

    John Gibson

    The McPin Foundation