Policy paper

Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health

Published 30 August 2017

About the Concordat

The Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health is underpinned by an understanding that taking a prevention-focused approach to improving the public’s mental health is shown to make a valuable contribution to achieving a fairer and more equitable society. The Concordat promotes evidence based planning and commissioning to increase the impact on reducing health inequalities. The sustainability and cost effectiveness of this approach will be enhanced by the inclusion of action that impacts on the wider determinants of mental health and wellbeing.

The Concordat is intended to provide a focus for cross-sector action to deliver a tangible increase in the adoption of public mental health approaches across:

• local authorities
• the NHS
• public, private and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations
• educational settings
• employers

It acknowledges the active role played by people with lived experience of mental health problems, individually and through user led organisations.

This definition of the Concordat has been agreed by the organisations listed at the end of this document. It represents a public mental health informed approach to prevention, as outlined in the NHS Five Year Forward View, and promotes relevant NICE guidance and existing evidence based interventions and delivery approaches, such as ‘making every contact count’.

Consensus statement

This consensus statement describes the shared commitment of the organisations signed below to work together via the Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health, through local and national action, to prevent mental health problems and promote good mental health.

The undersigned organisations agree that:

1. To transform the health system, we must increase the focus on prevention and the wider determinants of mental health. We recognise the need for a shift towards prevention-focussed leadership and action throughout the mental health system; and into the wider system. In turn, this will impact positively on the NHS and social care system by enabling early help through the use of upstream interventions.

2. There must be joint cross-sectoral action to deliver an increased focus on the prevention of mental health problems and the promotion of good mental health at local level. This should draw on the expertise of people with lived experience of mental health problems, and the wider community, to identify solutions and promote equality.

3. We will promote a prevention-focused approach towards improving the public’s mental health, as all our organisations have a role to play.

4. We will work collaboratively across organisational boundaries and disciplines to secure place-based improvements that are tailored to local needs and assets, in turn increasing sustainability and the effective use of limited resources.

5. We will build the capacity and capability across our workforce to prevent mental health problems and promote good mental health, as outlined in the Public Mental Health Leadership and Workforce Development Framework Call to Action¹.

6. We believe local areas will benefit from adopting the Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health.

7. We are committed to supporting local authorities, policy makers, NHS clinical commissioning groups and other commissioners, service providers, employers and the voluntary and community sector to adopt this Concordat and its approach.

Signatories

This first Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health was co-produced by:

• Dr Andrew Furber, President, Association of Directors of Public Health UK
• Kathy Roberts, Chief Executive, Association of Mental Health Providers
• Sarah Hughes, Chief Executive, Centre for Mental Health
• Professor Dame Sue Bailey, Chair, Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition
• Jonathan Marron, Director General Community Care, Department of Health
• John Middleton, President, Faculty of Public Health
• Councillor Izzi Seccombe, Local Government Association
• Dr Phil Moore, Chair, Mental Health Commissioners Network, NHS Clinical Commissioners
• Jenny Edwards, Chief Executive, Mental Health Foundation
• Sarah Yiannoullou, Managing Director, National Survivor User Network
• Claire Murdoch, National Mental Health Director (and National Senior Responsible Officer for Five Year Forward View for Mental Health), NHS England
• Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive, Public Health England

The Concordat has been endorsed by:

• Statutory organisations
  • Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief Inspector (Mental Health), Care Quality Commission
  • Professor Ian Cumming, Chief Executive, Health Education England
  • Andrew Dillon, Chief Executive, National Institute for Health Care and Excellence
  • Rob Shaw, Interim Chief Executive, NHS Digital
  • Professor Tim Kendall, National Clinical Director for Mental Health, NHS Improvement
  • Janet Davis, Chief Executive and General Secretary, Royal College of Nurses
  • Professor Wendy Burn, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists
• National Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations:
  • Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director, Age UK
  • Rick Henderson, Chief Executive, Homeless Link
  • Andrew van Doorn, Chief Executive, Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust
  • Paul Farmer, Chief Executive, Mind
  • Brian Dow and Ruth Sutherland, Co-Chairs, National Suicide Prevention Alliance
  • Paul Martin, Chair, The National LGBT Partnership
  • Jeremy Taylor, Chief Executive, Chief Executive, National Voices
  • Mark Winstanley, Chief Executive, Rethink
  • Ruth Sutherland, Chief Executive, Samaritans
  • Rosie Tressler, Chief Executive, Student Minds
  • Barbara Rayment, Director, Youth Access

1. Public mental health leadership and workforce development framework. London: Public Health England; 2015 (updated 2016). ↩