Sainsbury Centre launches Centres of Excellence in employment

9 November 2009

Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health today announced nine new Centres of Excellence in supporting people who use mental health services into employment.

Services in Central and North West London, Essex, Shropshire, Somerset and South West London have committed to being full partners in the programme. They will act as exemplars of how Individual Placement and Support (IPS) can be implemented in localities across England. Alongside these trailblazing sites, another four 'emerging centres' have been invited into the programme from Sussex, Leeds, Devon and Nottingham.

This innovative programme will see these areas demonstrate how to base their employment services for people with mental health problems on the evidence of what works best. In each site, the local mental health trust will work with partners in employment services, local authorities and other agencies to offer people effective support to get into paid work. The learning from these sites will be shared with other areas of England.

IPS services offer help to anyone who wants to work to achieve their ambitions and fulfil their potential. Job search based on a person's preferences begins quickly, unlike in traditional services which provide training and sheltered work as a precursor to employment. Health care and employment support are provided together, not separately, and expert advice on benefits is offered to anyone starting or thinking of starting work.

The Centres of Excellence project is based on a similar scheme developed in the US by Dartmouth Medical School, with the support of Johnson & Johnson. Both are offering their assistance to the project to ensure that we learn from international experience and share our learning with other countries.

Sainsbury Centre joint chief executive Dr Bob Grove said: "IPS turns traditional thinking on its head and we are thrilled to be working in these forward-thinking areas. International research has shown beyond doubt over many years what we should be doing. The problem up to now has been how to do it. What is exciting is that here we will be working with innovative local services who have led the way in applying the research on what works and are now prepared to share their experience of how to really develop evidence-based services in the UK.

"Nine out of ten people who use mental health services in England want to work but only one in five actually do. Too many vocational training and rehabilitation services are ineffective when it comes to getting people jobs. Many still assume that people need a lengthy period of training before seeking open employment. IPS challenges this thinking: the priority is to respond to a person's desire to work, start the search for competitive employment quickly, and ensure that training and in-work support are provided as needed.

"We believe that IPS should be made available to everyone who uses mental health services in England who wants to try out paid work. We hope that our Centres of Excellence will help to make that possible for all in the next few years."

Dr Patrick Geoghegan OBE, South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT) Chief Executive, said: "SEPT is proud to be a front-runner in the implementation of evidence-based supported employment.

"Our Vocational Services do a fantastic job helping and supporting people get back to work as a major factor in their recovery. We also work with local employers and our partners in the public sector to encourage them to join us in recruiting more people with a history of mental health problems. The Sainsbury Centre programme will give us the opportunity to share our experiences with other Trusts, to demonstrate the successes of our staff and service users and to show people that, with the right support, our service users are as employable as anyone else."

Who are our partner organisations?

We are working with five mental health and employment partnerships which we have invited to be full partners in our programme, and four which will begin as 'emerging centres'.

Full partners

Shropshire

Essex (joint application)

CNWL

Somerset

South West London

Emerging Centres

Sussex

Leeds

Devon

Nottingham

Find out more about IPS

Read more about Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and our work in this area.