Tackling the mental health crisis: how the private sector can help improve NHS mental health services

The nation is in the midst of a mental health crisis. The need for us to do something is pressing and high-quality mental health care has arguably never been more important.

 

In alarming figures, The Mental Health Foundation has forecast that by 2030 approximately two million more adults in the UK will have mental health problems due to population growth.

 

Depression is predicted to become the second leading cause of global disability this year while the London School of Economics and Political Science recently estimated that just a quarter of people with mental health problems currently receive any treatment.

 

A global mental health epidemic was on the cards long before March 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the landscape considerably. It has led to a significant increase in people presenting with mental health conditions.

 

It is anticipated that an extra 500,000 people across the UK will experience mental health difficulties directly because of Covid-19. With that increase in need for specialist mental health services, at Cygnet Health Care we want to be part of the solution, and work with the NHS to provide the best treatment and facilities to help people on their recovery journey.

 

Meeting this challenge must now be a priority for all concerned, from frontline politicians to those working across the health and social care sector. Making progress requires action across multiple areas. We need to encourage people to take good care of their mental health on a day-to-day basis. We need to invest in high-quality prevention services, and in comprehensive community care. And we need to be clear about the role that inpatient mental health care should play.

 

The government must focus more resources on prevention, as well as enhancing the availability of mental health support through expansion and transformation of mental health services. In developing and implementing any ideas, however, it makes sense to work with independent sector providers of NHS mental health services, who have always delivered a large proportion of NHS mental health care.

 

Independent providers can help in three key ways.

 

First, more community services must be delivered. In this, the independent sector – with its access to private sector capital – can play an important role, helping to make up the longstanding shortfall in public sector capital investment. However, this must be done in a flexible way, taking heed of what has been learned from past PFI initiatives.

 

Second, the plan needs to embrace the fresh thinking and new ideas which the private sector can bring. At Cygnet Health Care, for example, we have pioneered the use of nurse associates in mental health care to help address staff shortages.

 

Third, the independent sector can support the NHS to optimise its use of flexible staffing. Rather than competing with one another for the same small pool of agency staff, we can work alongside our partners across the sector to form region-wide staff banks, from which we can draw staff when there is a need. Doing so would also have the advantage of ensuring good standards of staffing, and offer opportunities for training which are unavailable to those who work unplanned agency shifts.

 

Future-proofing the workforce by motivating and rewarding healthcare staff is essential to tackling the crisis. In our line of work – caring for and treating people with mental health conditions – people are everything. It is the people – the care support workers, nurses, doctors, therapists, gym trainers, cleaners, reception and security staff – who make sure a patient is having a good experience and good care that improves their mental health and gives them the best chance of a long-term cure progress and recovery. It’s therefore important that the people who work in mental health hospitals and wards enjoy and are motivated in the work that they do.

 

A critical step-change in mental health provision should see more support for the families of individuals receiving treatment and care. The mental health crisis is daunting, but a lot of problems can be addressed if we empower families and carers. Empowering relatives is a massive piece of the jigsaw that is sometimes missing. They should be part of the solution.

 

Collectively across hospitals and services, more can be done to help prepare individuals and their families for discharge, which would serve to reduce the cycle of relapses that can affect significant numbers of people during the course of their lives.

 

One key issue is what support and knowledge we give individuals and their families, not only during their treatment but also to help them when a loved one returns home. If you have a fractured hip, you get crutches, physiotherapy and advice on how to make the best of your condition. If your child bumps their head, you get sent home with information telling you what to watch out for. If you are caring for a loved one who has had surgery, the community nurse will show you how to change a dressing.

 

We need to replicate that approach in mental health. Currently, there is a lot of training and support available for a physical illness but not for a mental health condition. We need to change that.

 

Cygnet is trialling more family involvement initiatives and hopes its experiences will have a significant impact on the holistic support and wellbeing of individuals and their families. We are happy to share our findings with the NHS and work with other providers: this is definitely something we need to discuss at a national level.

 

I am passionate about improving mental health services, and know that we can deliver more when we work together.

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To learn more about Cygnet Health Care, go to cygnethealth.co.uk

 

By Dr Tony Romero, Chief Executive of Cygnet Health Care