Adult mental health services underperforming

People who use mental health services are not being routinely involved in decisions about their care and treatment, according to a review by two watchdogs.

The Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection review also found ‘considerable underperformance’ within services in terms of people’s access to appropriate care and treatment, such as talking therapies, recovery and social inclusion.

The study looked at the operation of 174 local implementation teams set up to deliver the National Service Framework for mental health on the ground and assessed almost half as ‘fair’ or ‘weak’.

Anna Walker, chief executive of the Healthcare Commission said: “All areas now have a range of community mental healthcare teams in place, this is certainly a positive step. But the standard of care was highly variable.

“Care must meet the individual’s needs, but only half of those we interviewed had their own care plan, while only half had the number of somebody to ring in a crisis.”

Report from

Healthcare Commission

Commission for Social Care Inspection