Mental Health Strategy
Implementation Framework launched

24 July 2012

"The mental health strategy points to a clear need for a shift towards intervening early when people first experience mental ill health, for action to reduce inequalities in physical and mental health and for support to those with mental health conditions to achieve recovery on their own terms.”  

Centre for Mental Health Chief Executive Sean Duggan said, commenting on the release of The Mental Health Strategy Implementation Framework, launched today by Care Services Minister Paul Burstow.  

The Framework has been co-produced with five leading mental health charities, including Centre for Mental Health, and sets out a compelling case for society to urgently tackle the issue of mental ill health. It translates the Coalition’s mental health ambitions into specific actions, outlining what some of the fundamental changes to the health and care system will mean for mental health, and setting out the concrete steps which organisations can take to improve mental health and wellbeing in the most effective way.  

Duggan said: “The framework gives organisations across the country a clear message about where to start in making the major changes we need to see to improve the life chances of people facing and living with mental ill health."

The Framework is aimed at organisations in the health and care sector, but also wider society – including voluntary groups, schools, local authorities, housing organisations and employers. It sets out what each of these organisations can do to promote good mental health, whether it be clinical commissioning groups appointing mental health leads, schools developing awareness programmes to help staff recognise pupils at risk, or employers supporting the mental health of their workforce.

Care Services Minister, Paul Burstow said:  

“The anguish and distress of mental illness is tragic, and often avoidable. The economic costs run into billions – costs borne by business and by all public services, not just the NHS. But it doesn’t need to be this way.  

“Change must to be led from the front line, through local organisations with the support of Government and national organisations. We need to take a lifelong approach to this and ensure, right from childhood, that good mental health is prioritised in exactly the same way that physical health is.  

“As the framework shows, there is some fantastic work going on around the country already. The challenge is now to make this the norm.”  

You can download the framework here.

The framework is supported by the NHS Commissioning Board and Public Health England, and sets out how mental health will be embedded in the reformed health and care system.  

Progress will be measured via a new Mental Health Dashboard. This will bring together the most relevant measures from the three Outcomes Frameworks and elsewhere, and map them against the aims of the Government’s Mental Health Strategy.