An inquiry has today been launched by the Health and Social Care Committee into the provision of adult community mental health services.
The inquiry will focus on the experience of patients receiving mental health care in the community, with MPs examining what ‘high quality care’ means from the perspective of adults with severe mental illness (SMI).
The committee will investigate the current state of access to community mental health services for adults with SMI and explore how this could be improved across the country.
MPs will scrutinise the implementation of the Community Mental Health Framework, introduced in 2019, which aimed to deliver more joined-up care and avoid siloed working.
The cross-party committee will also consider how the wider health and social care needs of people with SMI can be addressed, including through employment and housing.
MPs will look at how community mental health services can work with social care, the third sector and local government to improve mental health care as a whole.
Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Layla Mora, said community mental health services are ‘lifeline’ that are often ‘ignored.’
‘We know that community mental health care providers are under immense pressure, and in this inquiry, we want to look at the interventions that would best enable delivery of high-quality services,’ she explained.
The committee is now accepting written evidence submissions from mental health practitioners and people with lived experience to help inform the inquiry.
Yesterday, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that 32,000 nurses could drop out of their courses by the end of the next parliament.
Earlier this month, nurse leaders and educators warned that proposed cuts to Level 7 apprenticeship funding could majorly impact specialist nurse training, including mental health nursing, and undermine the long-term workforce plan.
Last year, Nursing in Practice heard how mental health nurses ‘are critical’ to supporting patients in primary care, but risk being ‘pushed out the door’ by poor pay and conditions.
