Centre for Mental Health

Sainsbury Centre celebrates first 25 years by looking ahead to the next 25

23 March 2010

Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health today celebrates its first 25 years of work by publishing a collection looking forward to the challenges of the next quarter of a century in mental health policy and practice in the UK.

Looking Ahead includes contributions from 18 leaders in the mental health field in 2010. Each sets out their vision of what we should aim to achieve in the next 25 years and how we might get there. They look forward to a future in which people with mental health problems enjoy a fairer chance in life and in which mental ill health is prevented where possible and treated quickly when necessary.

Contributions to the book include:

Dr Rachel Perkins, Director of Quality Assurance at South West London and St George's NHS Trust: "The aim over the next 25 years should be to reduce the centrality of mental health services in people's lives and completely rethink the balance between professional support and wider support with life based on peer learning, support and coaching."

Steve Shrubb, Director of the Mental Health Network of the NHS Confederation: "Governments will realise that the mental wellbeing of individuals and communities is as important as obesity and coronary health. Supporting the emotional wellbeing of children will be a key priority."

Commenting on Looking Ahead, Sainsbury Centre joint chief executive Dr Bob Grove said: "We have come a long way since Sainsbury Centre began work in 1985. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of service user activists, professionals, politicians and managers, mental health services have got markedly better. But massive challenges still lie ahead of us.

"We need to set our sights high and work now for a future in which mental ill health is accepted as a part of life not hidden away and in which users of services negotiate the treatments they get based on their needs and preferences."

Joint chief executive Sean Duggan said: "We are celebrating Sainsbury Centre's first 25 years today with renewed determination to see further progress in the next 25. Whatever lies ahead, we will be there to support change for the better, to challenge practices that hold people back and to test how far and how fast we as a society can move."