Support for proposed NHS mental health access standards

The NHS has set out new ambitions for patients to have timely access to community mental healthcare, following a consultation on proposed new standards.

Patients, clinicians, and the public have welcomed the proposed mental health access standards which include ensuring people in the community receive help within four weeks for non-urgent treatment.

Under the proposed measures, patients of all ages with an urgent mental health need would be seen by community crisis teams within 24 hours. More than four in five respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal to introduce several additional mental health access and waiting time measures.

The proposals would also see those who present to A&E with mental health needs having a face-to-face assessment by specialist mental health liaison teams within one hour of being referred by an emergency department.

The proposed bundle of standards also include: an ‘urgent’ presentation to community-based mental health crisis services, patients should be seen within 24 hours of referral, or within 4 hours for those triaged as ‘very urgent’; adults accessing community-based services for non-urgent mental health care should start to receive help within four weeks of referral; and children, young people and their families/carers presenting to community-based mental health services for non-urgent care should start to receive help within four weeks of referral.

Claire Murdoch, the NHS’s National Mental Health Director, said: “The proposed new standards are good news for patients and if agreed will ensure they get timely access to mental health services, when they need them most.

“The national consultation showed wide-spread support for these measures from charities, stakeholders and NHS staff, with eight in ten people backing the proposed new standards, which will ensure patients who need care know when they can expect to receive it and will support more rapid access to treatment and support. Laying out the next steps for implementing these new proposals will be another key milestone in the journey to putting mental health on an equal footing with physical health, so-called ‘parity of esteem.”

Sean Duggan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation's Mental Health Network, said: "Health leaders will welcome the introduction of these proposed new standards as mental health services have not had comparable performance metrics to physical healthcare for far too long, which has created barriers to understanding the extent of the challenges they face.

“While the targets in themselves won’t lead to improvements, they will increase transparency for patients and the wider public, allow NHS teams to measure their progress, and they can help shine a brighter light on the need for more targeted resources for services.

“However, none of the NHS’s allocation in the government’s comprehensive spending review was specifically identified for mental healthcare, and this will make performance against the standards very challenging for the mental health sector. The introduction of these proposed standards should be part of the recovery plan that is essential for supporting mental healthcare to respond to the rising demand they are seeing for their services.”