The 2002 Mental Health NSF
Following the publication of the Mental Health Strategy in 2001 the Assembly Government produced its first Mental Heatlh NSF in April 2002. This set out a range of Standards and Key Actions to ensure the successful implementation of the strategy.
It is fair to say that mental health professionals struggled with the implementation of the NSF, and progress towards ensuring that each local area had access to the full range of services set out in the Strategy was slow. This lack of progress was highlighted by the "Baseline Review of Mental Health Service Provision in Wales" undertaken by the Wales Audit Office during 2004. Other reviews, inspections and events also highlighted the need to make more consistent and rapid progress in implementing the Strategy and NSF.
Raising the Standard
The Assembly Government, therefore, decided to review and update the NSF and add a clear action plan. As a result “Raising the Standard: The Revised Adult Mental Health National Service Framework and an Action Plan for Wales” was published on World Mental Health Day, 10th October 2005. This replaces the Assembly Government’s first NSF published in 2002.
The revised NSF aims to “set standards for services in Wales, drive up quality and reduce unacceptable variations in health and social services provision”.
"Raising the Standard" sets out 8 Standards and 44 Key Actions to be fully implemented by 2013. They are largely the same as the original NSF, but the wording has been updated to reflect more recent commissioning, performance management and inspection arrangements.
Scope of the revised NSF
The NSF covers public health challenges, health promotion and social inclusion, the needs of service users and carers, access to services and provision of comprehensive assessment and treatment. It links with issues for children’s mental health services, older people’s mental health services, drug and alcohol misuse provision and those with mental health problems in the criminal justice system.
Although it focuses on adults of working age, usually people between the ages of 18 and 65, many of the principles apply equally to people over 65 years old. More specific guidance related to the mental health needs of people over 65 is included in the NSF for Older People which was published in March 2006.
Standards are set for eight key areas of activity:
Social inclusion, health promotion and tackling stigma — Standard 1
Service user and carer empowerment — Standard 2
Promotion of opportunities for a normal pattern of daily life — Standard 3
Providing equitable and accessible services — Standard 4
Commissioning effective, comprehensive and responsive services — Standard 5
Delivering effective, comprehensive and responsive services — Standard 6
Effective client assessment and care pathways — Standard 7
Ensuring a well staffed, skilled and supported workforce — Standard 8
To download a copy of “Raising the Standard” click here.
Hafal has produced a user-friendly short guide to the revised NSF, which sets out an easy-to-read timetable of the performance targets set against each Key Action of the framework. To download a copy of Hafal’s NSF timetable click here.
