Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Open Dialogue approach to mental health care; and whether he plans to support its wider adoption within the NHS.

NHS England's Culture of Care Standards reference Open Dialogue as an evidence-based approach for use in inpatient mental health, learning disability, and autism settings. NHS England is currently evaluating the national Culture of Care Programme, which is based on these standards, to understand the programme’s impact and to inform future improvement. The standards remain and are expected to be maintained, and are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/culture-of-care-standards-for-mental-health-inpatient-services/#core-commitments-and-standards-for-the-culture-of-inpatient-care

Additionally, Open Dialogue: Development and Evaluation of a Social Network Intervention for Severe Mental Illness (ODDESSI) is a large-scale programme of research into crisis and continuing mental health care within the National Health Service. It is evaluating whether Open Dialogue can be developed and delivered within NHS services in a way that is acceptable to staff, including peers, and service users, and whether it can be effectively integrated into existing services. The trial is also assessing whether Open Dialogue leads to improved clinical outcomes and represents value for money, as well as examining the experiences of service users, carers, and staff. Further information on ODDESSI is available at the following link:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/pals/research/clinical-educational-and-health-psychology/research-groups/oddessi/oddessi-trial?__cf_chl_f_tk=LqTELNtUicWc7eZEBO_Q5S6Hzak9g0RT00eIA4LWmto-1782982530-1.0.1.1-y6sBxJzGpuB1v30bw67yXMurhKbjuVH6GivWhF3F_7Q