NEWS


Health Budgets among people with mental health problems and those with learning disabilities, and increased development of apps and online resources to support good mental health and enable recovery. And there will be vast improvements to the standard and


availability of post and pre-natal mental health services and those aimed at children and young people. For example, the Long-Term Plan makes a new commitment


that funding for children and young people’s mental health services will grow faster than both overall NHS funding and total mental health spending. This will include expansion of school and college-based


mental health services; improved eating disorder support; better crisis services; and new services for victims of sexual abuse. And there will be a completely-new approach to services


aimed at young adults who often fall in the gap between children’s and adult services. In addition, services for people with learning disabilities and autism will be greatly enhanced. And this means demand will increase for new and upgraded


facilities from which to deliver the improvements outlined. The plan states: “For people admitted to an acute mental


Mental health finally gets the recognition it deserves


From page 3 T


he recently-published NHS Long-Term Plan makes a renewed commitment that mental health services will grow faster than the overall NHS budget, creating a ring-


fenced local investment fund worth at least £2.3billion a year by 2023/24. Investment will see improvements in community mental health crisis response services, the expansion of Personal


health unit, a therapeutic environment provides the best opportunity for recovery.” The recent Crisp Commission highlighted a wide variation in


the quality and capability of acute mental health units across the country. And the NHS Five Year Forward View for Mental Health


programme is working to eliminate inappropriate out-of-area placements for non-specialist acute care by 2021. To deliver this, the plan states: “Capital investment from the


forthcoming Spending Review will be needed to upgrade the physical environment for inpatient psychiatric care.” It adds: “We will continue to maximise the productivity


benefits we generate from our estate, through improving utilisation of clinical space, ensuring build and maintenance is done sustainably.”


National prize spurs ground-breaking innovations A


virtual reality film series aimed at triggering memories among people with dementia has won a


top national design prize. The WayBack picked up the £100,000


Challenge Dementia award, pioneered by Essex County Council in conjunction with Nesta, PA Consulting, the Alzheimer’s Society, and Tech UK. The WayBack is one of nine projects,


ranging from large organisations to small charities and individuals, which made it to the final stage of the prize. Co-founder of The WayBack, Dan


Cole, said of the win: “This prize has given us the validation and energy that we needed to know that we’re on the right track, and to keep us going.” The panel of expert judges also


awarded a Highly Commended prize of £25,000 to HowDoI? to enable the team to further test and develop their project,


mhdf magazine 7


which uses the same technology as contactless credit cards and a smartphone to provide bespoke video instructions to help with everyday tasks. The other finalists were: Remarkable


Lives; My Care Matters; Communication without waiting lists; Happy at Home; Building Creative Communities; VivifyMe; and HomeCare.


www.thewaybackvr.com www.wearehowdoi.com www.remarkablelives.co.uk www.mycarematters.org www.active-minds.org


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