Mental health services

Here you can find out about our work to promote improvements in services for people with mental health needs. This includes the most comprehensive study of acute in-patient services ever carried out in England, and our 2008 survey to see what people using community-based services thought about the care they received.


What service users said about community care

Our 2008 survey of more than 14,000 users of community mental health services showed that their relationships with their psychiatrists continued to improve. We also found that the care of those with the most complex needs continued to be better coordinated. But a large proportion of the people who took part in the survey said that they were not involved in decisions about their care, or were not able to access talking therapies.

More about the key findings from our survey of service users in the community (DOC, 49kb opens in a new window)

Use the search box to find out about mental health services in your area.

Review of hospital services for people with acute mental health problems

The things we looked at in this national review included whether services for people with acute mental health problems focused on their individual needs, involved them in planning of their care, provided a safe environment, and gave the long-term support they needed to return to independent lives in the community. We scored most trusts "fair" (43%), with 29% scoring "good", 12% "excellent" and 12% "weak".

Review of hospital services for people with acute MH problems (PDF, 470Kb, opens in new window)

Related sites

Other information about local mental health services

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