No Wrong Door: a vision for mental health in 2032

Andy Bell, Deputy Chief Executive at the Centre for Mental Health, took to the floor at the recent Kooth Commissioner Day to detail the charity’s vision for mental health, learning disabilities and autism services in 2032.

Recognising that mental health, autism and learning disability services need to change, the Centre for Mental Health was commissioned by the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network to identify a vision for people of all ages in England. This was achieved through research and consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, reading and hearing about people’s hopes and beliefs about what these vital services should be like in 2032.

The No Wrong Door report – which can be downloaded by clicking here - calls for action across funding, workforce and delivering services in new and innovative ways, including offering more open access services to the public all of which would help to provide faster access to care.

Ten key principles

The report sets out the results of that work, identifying 10 key principles for 10 years’ time and what will help or hinder their implementation. The ten themes are:

In his entertaining presentation, Andy worked through each of the principles, describing how they might become reality. For example, for principle 1, prevention, he described how in 2032, greater effort will be made to protect and promote our mental health throughout every stage of life and to ensure autistic people and people with learning disabilities are properly supported to have fulfilling and independent lives. Locally and nationally, government and public services will take a systematic ‘population health’ approach to reducing the social and economic risk factors for poor mental health and boosting protective factors in individuals, families and communities.

He also demonstrated how the No Wrong Door vision is much more than just wishful thinking; citing examples from the No Wrong Door report he demonstrated how the elements that make up the future are already a reality somewhere in England.

However, he added that the vision will only become a large-scale reality if there is investment in services and the people who work in them, and a willingness to embrace radical change over the next ten years.

Andy’s presentation can be viewed in full below.