20,000 give views on priorities for 're-shaping mental health'

Better access to high quality services, a wider choice of treatments, more focus on prevention, more funding, and less stigma, were the top five calls for change by 2020.

The resulting Mental Health Taskforce Engagement Report was published on 2 September, with the key conclusions discussed during a session the same day on the opening morning of the NHS England Expo 2015 conference. Launching the report, Paul Farmer (pictured), chairman of the Mental Health Taskforce, and CEO of mental health charity, Mind, told the conference: “We are at the start of a new era for mental health.” He said three major themes had been identified from the feedback: prevention, access and quality.

Since April, feedback had been received from 20,473 people via an online survey; 250 people with lived experience and carers attended events, 60 people detained in secure mental health services were supported to send in written responses, and 26 organisations supplied submissions. The research and the report’s compilation were undertaken jointly by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness. The survey questions focused on themes such as people’s experiences of mental health challenges, ‘desired changes’ to health by 2020, what the changes would mean for specific groups, and ‘examples of what is working well already’. Other areas ‘flagged’ as important included treating mental health equally with physical health, ‘more joined-up NHS services’, attitudes of NHS professionals, improved training, and recruiting staff with particular skills.

All the findings will inform the full report which the Taskforce – which was launched in March 2015 to explore the variation in the availability of mental health services across England, examine  the outcomes for people using services, and identify key priorities for improvement – will publish this Autumn detailing the proposed five-year national strategy.