www.nmhdu.org.
uk
• IN THE SPOTLIGHT
• POLICY AND PRACTICE
• Quality, Improvement,
Productivity and Prevention
in Mental Health
• Mental Health Commissioning
• Public health and wellbeing
• Personalisation in mental health
• Improving Care Pathways
1
This special edition of Stakeholder Briefing has been produced
for the NHS Confederation Mental Health Network Conference
If you would like to know more about our work, contact Alison Cooley or Tony Jameson-Allen.
For more information go to our website. Click here to subscribe or unsubscribe to future editions.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Update from Ian McPherson
Since its inception in April 2009, the National Mental Health
Development Unit (NMHDU) has had a strategic partnership with
the NHS Confederation through which we have developed joint
programmes of work in a range of areas, including Commissioning,
Personalisation, Improving Care Pathways and Public Health and
Wellbeing. The partnership has also enabled us to be responsive
and flexible to the evolving landscape from the QIPP challenge and
plans around the NHS White Paper. Currently, NMHDU and the NHS
Confederation are working together with the DH Mental Health Division,
SHA leads, the Audit Commission and ADASS to develop and promote
the contribution of mental health to the QIPP agenda and inform
developments around the new commissioning structures.
We have produced this special briefing to coincide with the NHS
Confederation’s Mental Health Network Conference, highlighting our
joint programmes and current activity.
SPECIAL
EDITION NOVEMBER 2010
Our programme of work with the NHS Confederation
NMHDU has developed a range of programmes and activity in
partnership with the NHS Confederation’s. Achievements and areas
of joint work include:
• Mental Health Commissioning – this work is being taken forward
in partnership with the Royal College of GPs, the Royal College of
Psychiatrists, ADASS and a number of Strategic Health Authorities.
• Improving the Care Pathway – in particular work to promote the
Acute Care Declaration improving the experience of inpatient care
and a new initiative developing organisation based approaches to
promoting recovery.
• Personalisation in mental health – this work has included a report
of the views of NHS and social care leaders around the implementation
of personal health budgets within mental health.
• Wellbeing and public mental health – this work includes a survey
of NHS and local government leaders around commissioning for
wellbeing agenda.
• QIPP in mental health – jointly agreed programme of work with
the Department of Health, SHA mental health and clinical leads,
the Audit Commission and ADASS to look at specific areas within the
mental health system where QIPP outcomes could be achieved.

• IN THE SPOTLIGHT
• POLICY AND PRACTICE
• Quality, Improvement,
Productivity and Prevention
in Mental Health
• Mental Health Commissioning
• Public health and wellbeing
• Personalisation in mental health
• Improving Care Pathways
2
POLICY AND PRACTICE
Quality, Improvement, Productivity
and Prevention in Mental Health
NMHDU, along with the NHS Confederation, DH, the SHAs, the Audit
Commission and ADASS, has established a Mental Health workstream
to support the national Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention
(QIPP) initiative. The workstream comprises three projects:
• acute care pathways – to reduce variations across the country in mental
health bed day usage so that all areas achieve the upper quartile
of national performance. This will be achieved by improving use of
evidence based interventions to reduce admissions, lengths of stay and
delayed discharges
• out of area placements, including medium secure services – to reduce
the numbers of people with mental ill health and related conditions
placed outside their PCT area and to improve the outcomes where these
placements are used
• physical and mental health – to reduce the use of primary and acute
hospital services by people with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS)
and people with long-term physical health conditions and co-morbid
mental health issues by use of evidence-based psychological treatments.
www.nmhdu.org.uk
SPECIAL
EDITION NOVEMBER 2010
A central focus of the design of the project is to enable the key
stakeholders to work together at national, regional and local levels to
achieve improvements in these three areas.
The three projects are already working towards a number of products,
including guidance on best practice and evidence-based outcomes,
implementation toolkits for regional/ local commissioners and providers,
and joint NHS Confederation / NMHDU / ADASS briefing materials.
Mental Health Commissioning
Forthcoming changes to both NHS commissioning and to arrangements
for Social Care and Wellbeing proposed in the NHS White Paper and
elsewhere have led to a significant shift in emphasis within the NMHDU
National Mental Health Commissioning Programme. In the course of
2011/2012 the commissioning landscape will alter fundamentally as
a new NHS Commissioning Board and GP Commissioning Consortia
begin to be established. In order to ensure that Mental Health is
well-positioned to flourish within this changing landscape the National
MH Commissioning Programme is working with a range of partners at
the national and regional level to identify and promote good practice
in MH Commissioning. This will incorporate the development of a MH
Commissioning Framework and a Transition Template
> POLICY AND PRACTICE more overleaf

• IN THE SPOTLIGHT
• POLICY AND PRACTICE
• Quality, Improvement,
Productivity and Prevention
in Mental Health
• Mental Health Commissioning
• Public health and wellbeing
• Personalisation in mental health
• Improving Care Pathways
www.nmhdu.org.uk
SPECIAL
EDITION NOVEMBER 2010
POLICY AND PRACTICE
Public health and wellbeing Improving Care Pathways
Results of an NHS Confederation-led leaders survey into wellbeing, NMHDU and the NHS Confederation are implementing a project-led
commissioned as part of the NMHDU public mental health and partnership with the Centre for Mental Health, to promote and support
wellbeing programme, will be presented at a leadership summit on recovery-focused organisations and services. The work builds on the
8 December. Leaders across the NHS, social care, local government, research summarised in the Centre for Mental Health publication,
public health and GPs were asked for their views around commissioning Making Recovery a Reality. The project will pilot recovery-focused
for and delivering the wellbeing agenda. The summit will be followed by organisational development across selected local NHS sites and will
a report with recommendations for future support in taking wellbeing demonstrate and evaluate outcomes for providers and commissioners.
and population mental health work forward. There has been a very positive response to the opportunity to participate
in this from members of the NHS Confederation Mental Health Network
Personalisation in mental health
In response to the findings in the report 'Shaping Personal Budgets'
(NMHDU/Confed 2009), the NMHDU has commissioned the NHS For further details on all of these programmes go to the
Confederation Mental Health network to undertake another piece NMHDU website www.nmhdu.org.uk
of research. Leaders questioned in the original report described
staff attitudes as being the likely biggest block to change. The NHS
Confederation is undertaking research to discover levels of awareness,
understanding and appetite about personalisation and PHBs of six
professional groups – Psychiatrists, psychologists, MH nurses, OTs, social
workers and GPs. Through each professional body, a detailed web-based
questionnaire is being sent to each group. Even a small percentage
response will give significant research material. From those respondents
a small number will be selected to take part in more detailed analysis.
At the same time, the NHS Confederation ave commissioned similar
research with users/carers from the Mental Health Foundation.
Both studies will be completed and report by March 2011