Mental health and new care models

While some of the vanguard sites developing new care models report promising early results from adopting a whole-person approach, the full opportunities to improve care through integrated approaches to mental health have not yet been realised. 

This report draws on our recent research with vanguard sites in England, conducted in partnership with the Royal College of Psychiatrists. We found that where new models of care have been used to remove the barriers between mental health and other parts of the health system, local professionals saw this as being highly valuable in improving care for patients and service users. But there remains much to be done to fully embed mental health into integrated care teams, primary care, urgent and emergency care pathways, and in work on population health.

Learning from doing: workforce lessons from vanguards

Candace Imison reports back from a recent NHS England event which explored how vanguards are delivering change in the workforce to support new models of care.


The development of new care models requires changes to the make-up of the care workforce – changes that are not always easy to deliver. Recently, representatives from the vanguards came together to reflect on their experiences so far in developing and redesigning their workforce to support the new models of care. The conversation – while realistic about the scale of the challenge – was optimistic about what could be achieved and the progress made so far. Across the country, vanguards are finding new ways to engage with and develop their staff to support improvement.