Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to facilitate collaboration between NHS and local authority mental health service providers.

In 2016, National Health Service organisations came together to form 44 sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) covering the whole of England, and set out their proposals to improve health and care for patients.

In some areas, an STP will evolve to form an accountable care system (ACS), a new type of even closer collaboration. In an ACS, NHS organisations, in partnership with local councils and others, take collective responsibility for managing resources, delivering NHS standards, and improving the health of the population they serve.

Local services can provide better and more joined-up care for people when different organisations work together in this way. This is particularly important for mental health service users who often have a range of mental, physical and social needs.