Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Rejected
Lack of continuity of care fragments support for people with severe mental illness
Recommendation
Continuity of care is a necessity for people with severe mental illness. It is essential to the delivery of high-quality care. When it is present, it prevents crisis, builds trust, and supports recovery. When it is absent, it fragments support, burdens families, and puts lives at risk. This continuity must be built into the design of mental health services, not left to chance. At the moment it is too easy for people to fall out of care, in some cases being discharged when there is a need for ongoing support. The approach to providing continuity of care must reflect the enduring nature of SMIs and the impact this has on people’s lives. (Conclusion, Paragraph 39)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government rejected the recommendation for specific actions to ensure continuity of care, stating they are already implementing the community mental health framework through early implementor sites and monitoring service performance, with further assessment planned for the MSF on SMI.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government · verbatim extract
Rejected
The government accepts this recommendation. The government has recognised concerns from patients and services about the role of the key worker or care coordinators. NHS England will publish new guidance, the personalised care framework, setting out the core aspects of care for people who require help from integrated primary care, secondary care mental health services and VCSFE organisations. The draft guidance has already been shared with systems to facilitate early adoption. This new guidance will outline the core principles of care that all people using NHS commissioned community mental health, crisis and inpatient services should: • have a care and support plan that is current and reflective of the needs of the person at that point • have a person within the service responsible for their care and support plan and for developing a trusted therapeutic relationship • be able to have their care and support plan reviewed when things change, as well as be able to quickly re-access help when they need to (such as when their mental health deteriorates following a period of stability) The new guidance sets out the critical function of a ‘named worker’ as having responsibility for: • building a trusted relationship with the person • supporting delivery of the care and support plan including co-ordinating the professionals, services and agencies needed to realise it Named workers are part of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) which has overall responsibility for the care and treatment of people within the service. Effective MDT working and associated systems, processes and values are critical to enabling the named worker to carry out their role.
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