
Yesterday, NHS England published its operational planning guidance for 2025/26, which outlines its objectives and priorities for the year.
Some of the key mental health objectives are to:
- Speed up urgent and crisis care support.
- Tackle long waits in A&E for people in a mental health emergency.
- Reduce the average time that adults stay in acute mental health beds.
- Expand mental health services for children and young people, reaching 345,000 more young people by 2026.
- Expand Mental Health Support Teams in schools.
- Tackle mental health inequalities and focus on preventative, community-based care.
Emily Evans, Everyturn’s Executive Director of Strategy & Transformation, said:
“There is consensus across mental health providers and the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector that NHS funding priorities need to shift from acute inpatient care to preventative mental health support in our communities.
“At Everyturn, we absolutely agree, so we welcome its inclusion in the NHS England guidance. But now it’s time to see bold action to make it happen.
“We know what we need to do; we have the real-life stories and outcomes from our crisis, community, and hospital step-down services to prove it.
“We know we can prevent hospital admissions. We know we can safely discharge people from hospital sooner. We know that we can prevent people from spiralling into crisis and needing support from A&E, NHS crisis teams, or ambulance services. We know that living a satisfying, independent life is possible for people with complex needs and histories.
“At Everyturn, we want to stop just talking about properly funding community mental health support. We want to start seeing it happen.”