Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support and guidance his Department has provided to clinical commissioning groups and NHS mental health trusts to support innovative home treatment and specialist nursing in the community for patients requiring mental health treatment.

The majority of mental health commissioning is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The specialised commissioning teams within NHS England work with CCGs and providers to ensure that the impact of any changes to community based services and specialised services upon the whole care pathway are handled in a coordinated way.

The planning guidance for the National Health Service for 2016/17 includes a requirement for CCGs, with their mental health provider, to have in place a service development and improvement plan for the development of local Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Teams with a particular focus on ensuring that they are able to offer intensive home treatment with frequent visits to patients’ homes.

The recently published report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce sets out plans for expanding crisis resolution home treatment teams across England to ensure that each is available to deliver 24/7 treatment to support 12,000 more adults by 2020. This will be backed by over £400 million investment, as announced by the Prime Minister on 11 January, to enable 24/7 treatment in communities as a safe and effective alternative to hospital.