Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, published in February 2016, what progress his Department has made in implementing recommendations 26, 28, and 29.

The Ten Year Framework for Mental Health Research was published on the Government website in December in response to Recommendation 26 in the Five Year Forward View and offers a collective view of how mental health research should move forward over the next decade.

In response to recommendation 28, NHS England has supported the delivery of six digital mental health projects focussing on improved use of data and system interoperability, information to promote wellbeing, better use of services and self-management, accelerated design and uptake of digital therapies. Seven mental health trusts are now recognised as Global Digital Exemplars, receiving up to £5 million each. They are setting ambitious programmes of work aiming to explore how digital tools and digital solutions to improve efficiency and interoperability, which can be used across a mental health service to deliver better outcomes and more effective working practices.

We also launched the NHS Apps library in April 2017, which includes six digital tools focusing on mental health, which have been through the approvals process. NHS Digital are also working to improve the mental health content available at the following link:

www.nhs.uk

On recommendation 29, the Government’s 2017-2019 Integrationand Better Care Fund Policy Framework and the subsequent Integration and Better Care Fund (BCF) planning requirements for 2017 – 2019 both reference the need to include mental health services when reporting on integrated work funded by the BCF. Social work services are also recognised as key partners in integrated working, with many BCF-funded local multi-disciplinary teams now including social workers, as recently mentioned in the Chief Social Worker’s annual report (2018).