Creativity and collaboration never more critical

In mid-February this year the NHS in England committed to ‘the biggest transformation of mental healthcare across the NHS in a generation’, pledging to help more than a million extra people and invest more than a billion pounds a year by 2020/21.

The announcement came in the wake of the final report of an independent taskforce chaired by the chief executive of Mind, Paul Farmer, set up by the NHS as part of its Five Year Forward View to build consensus on how to improve services for people of all ages. The Taskforce’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health report includes wide-ranging recommendations, and proposes a three-pronged approach to improving care – through prevention, ‘the expansion of mental healthcare’, and integrated physical and mental healthcare. The Taskforce’s vice-chair, Jacqui Dyer, will discuss some of the key findings in the second keynote conference speech on the morning of the first day of this year’s DIMHN conference.

Event director, James Lee, says of this year’s DIMH show: “Whether you are looking at adding new buildings, considering refurbishing existing ones, or thinking about the best and most cost-effective approach to ongoing maintenance work, Design in Mental Health 2016 is here to help you source information, solutions, and ideas, and we are delighted to have some really high profile speakers at this year’s conference.” Themed ‘Meeting the challenges together’, the 2016 event comprises the Design in Mental Health Network’s annual conference, an awards dinner on 17 May, and an exhibition at which over 60 exhibitors will showcase the latest innovations.