Policy
We work to develop evidence-based mental health policies across the UK to help everyone enjoy good mental health and make a better recovery from mental illness.
We have a proud history of informing and influencing policy at a national and local government level.
This work goes hand-in-hand with our research, campaigns and service development activity and enables us to respond promptly to Government consultation documents on a range of issues that impact on mental health services and people with mental health problems, such as:
- NHS reform
- Public mental health
- Changes to the welfare benefits system
- Adult social care reforms
- Dementia standards
- Personalisation
- Patient choice
- Commissioning
- Mental health and mental capacity legislation
We also produce our own policy briefings on key mental health issues for Ministers, parliamentarians, civil servants, opinion-formers and members of the public.
Our Policy Panel brings together the opinions of hundreds of members of the public to respond to policy proposals that affect mental health issues.
We work closely with other voluntary sector organisations and professional bodies to maximise the impact of our policy work.
We are core members of:
- The Future Visions Coalition - advisors to the Government on its new mental health strategy
- The Mental Health Alliance - who monitor the impact of the Mental Health Act 2007
- The We Need To Talk Coalition - that successfully lobbied for an expansion of psychological therapies
- The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition
The Cavendish Review was published in July 2013. It was an independent review into healthcare assistants and support workers in the NHS and social care settings, in response to which we published this document.
The We Need to Talk Coalition's response to the Government's consultation about strenghtening the NHS Constitution
Share your views and help shape the mental health services of the future.
Read our response to the Care and Support Bill Consultation.
New GP consortia in England need to develop their skills and expertise in commissioning mental health services.
Schizophrenia is a serious and distressing mental illness. The Foundation wants to ensure that people with schizophrenia get the best possible care and support.
Many veterans (ex-service personnel) experience mental health problems, often relating to their experiences in the armed forces. Any such problems need to be addressed quickly and effectively.
The Government's proposals for NHS reform will only succeed if certain conditions are met, including expert GP commissioning of mental health services and service user agreed outcomes.
Physical health and mental health are inextricably linked. Action is needed to improve the physical health of people with mental health problems, and to make mental health a key public health priority.
The Coalition Government is reforming the welfare system, affecting benefit claimants with mental health problems. Our response sets out our concerns about the assessment system.
The Mental Health Foundation is a member of the We Need To Talk Coalition, which has been campaigning for wider provision of psychological therapies. The Coalition report highlights a variation in provision across England.
This policy paper by the Future Vision Coalition, of which the Mental Health Foundation is a core member, was published in 2010 to influence the new government's mental health strategy, published on 2 February 2011.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a formal inquiry in 2010 into disability-related harassment. The Mental Health Foundation response cites harassment experienced by people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities.
We highlight the need for outcomes to focus on community care as well as hospital care, and to include better mental health for the whole population as well as improved services for people with a mental disorder.
We set out concerns around GP commissioning expertise and the need for GPs to commission in partnership with a range of other agencies, such as social care.
Our response to the Department of Health’s plans to strengthen public involvement in health, including creating a new HealthWatch body.
Our response, to the Committee, in light of the Coalition Government’s plans to move responsibility for NHS commissioning from Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to GP-led consortia.
The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition’s briefing paper on children and young people’s mental health issues, setting out the challenges facing services and the Coalition’s key areas for policy development.
Our response to the Government’s proposals to introduce direct payments for health care, but challenging local assessors to ensure that people with mental health needs and people with learning disabilities have equality of opportunity.
Our response, arguing that people who may only occasionally be able to contribute financially towards the costs of their care, including many people with mental health problems – must nevertheless be guaranteed to have their social care needs met.
Our response to the Department of Health consultation on adult social care outcome measures, highlighting the need to ensure that outcomes reflect what social care users and their carers really want.
This paper is a joint response from the Mental Health Foundation and the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities to the potential impact of the Big Society.
Read our response to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia Inquiry on cost savings and delivering better outcomes in dementia care.
Read our response to the Government’s listening exercise on NHS reforms.
Read our response to the Work Capacity Assessment review
Response to the Government's proposed Personal Independence Payment scheme