Mental health choice about culture not venue, says Prior

Choice of treatment is more important than choice of venue in mental health, according to Cliff Prior, chief executive of mental health charity Rethink.

'Choice in mental health is also much more about the culture than the structure, where and when will patients be offered choice along their pathway?' asked Mr Prior.

He said the government needed to be clear on the role that clinicians and other medical staff would play in offering choice. 'Will they be offering care or will they be expected to act as an adviser as well?'

Mr Prior also asked why the Department of Health appeared not to be using the work of the original 2003 choice consultation and associated taskforce groups to feed into its framework.

However, choice reference group co-chair David Pink said the thinking on choice in mental health services was the most 'well developed' of all the areas where the government was aiming to extend personalisation.

'Mental health is the only area that has a fairly comprehensive framework developed; the other five areas are well behind in developing a framework,' he said.

Last September, the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) published a framework on choice in mental health.

It attempted to set out how patients accessing mental health services can access 'meaningful choices'.

According to Our Choices in Mental Health: a framework for improving choice for people who use mental health services, choice for users of mental health services means: 'access to relevant and up-to-date information, discussion with others including staff, carers, family and friends, and a sense of partnership with services that provide personalised care'.

The framework sets out four areas where mental health patients should have more choice: life choices over how much care is required; choice of how to contact mental health services; choices when having assessment carried out; and a choice of care options.