Summer conference: mental health spending community focus

The NHS long-term plan said additional funding would rise to £2.3bn by 2023/24. Professor Kendall (pictured) said the mental health investment standard would be one of the ways NHS England and NHS Improvement would ensure the money was delivered to the front line.

He added: ‘In their implementation plans, we expect local systems to tell us how they are going to spend the money, so we will be able to talk to them not only in terms of spend, but also what they are spending the money on.

‘The long-term plan has a focus on community services – I don't think how much [funding] has been announced, but it’s the biggest chunk of what we are going to spend. More will be going into community mental health services than in the history of the NHS.’

He said system working offered opportunities for economies of scale, with services delivered at the right level, such as local, city-wide or regional – a low secure facility could be provided at local level, while a medium secure unit could be provided at an integrated care organisation level, for example.

While there had been a focus on reducing out-of-area placements, numbers had remained stubbornly high in 12 trusts. Their areas had one thing in common, he said. ‘They don't have investment in community services. In most of the rest of the trusts they have shifted – they have come down gently but they have come down.’

He would be meeting the 12 trusts, together with other local stakeholders to address the issue. ‘I think this is a scandal. We have out-of-area placements in mental health in a way that no other part of the service does. They are the result of short-term solutions to avoid spending money. [Repatriating patients] is the best example of spending money to provide high-quality care in a way that will save you money in the long run.’