• Twelve organisations have been chosen to pilot new emergency and urgent mental healthcare targets
  • Eleven NHS mental health trusts and one social enterprise picked
  • Twelve areas have also been chosen to pilot waiting time standards for children and young people’s community mental health teams

New mental health emergency care targets will be trialled across 11 NHS organisations and one social enterprise, NHS England has confirmed.

The 12 organisations will pilot new clinical standards for urgent and emergency mental healthcare, which include:

  • A one-hour response by liaison psychiatry teams for patients with emergency mental health needs;
  • Assessments for emergency mental health referrals to be carried out “within hours”; and
  • Patients accessing emergency mental health services in the community to be seen within 24 hours.

The organisations testing the standards, which largely match the sites of those testing the new acute accident and emergency standards, are:

  • Berkshire Healthcare Foundation Trust;
  • Cambridgeshire and Peterborough FT;
  • Central and North West London FT;
  • East London FT;
  • Livewell Southwest (community interest company providing services in Plymouth and West Devon);
  • Northamptonshire Healthcare FT;
  • Nottinghamshire Healthcare FT;
  • Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber FT;
  • South West Yorkshire Partnership FT;
  • Surrey and Borders Partnership FT;
  • Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys FT; and
  • West London Trust.

The national commissioner has also revealed the 12 areas testing four-week waiting times for children and young people’s community support teams. They are:

  • Bromley;
  • Buckinghamshire;
  • Camden;
  • Doncaster and Rotherham;
  • Gloucestershire;
  • Greater Manchester;
  • Haringey;
  • Northumberland;
  • Oxfordshire;
  • South Warwickshire;
  • Stoke on Trent and North Staffordshire; and
  • Tower Hamlets.

According to the update, published late last week, NHSE is working on an approach to test a four-week waiting time for adult and older people’s community mental health services. The organisations involved in these pilots are yet to be confirmed.

NHSE said all pilots are expected to begin testing standards by October this year.

Story updated on 11 September to reflect fact that criteria for the children and young people’s waiting time pilots remain the same.

Source

NHS England statement

Source Date

September 2019

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