Key publications for the mental health support workforce
Understanding where the mental health support workforce fit into key national frameworks, policies and guidance enable those responsible for this workforce to place importance strategically on their role in the wider healthcare system. We know that the mental health support workforce can feel undervalued but as the key publications shown here tell us - they are vital.
This list can be used as part of an induction package for those responsible for the mental health support workforce, or for the mental health support workforce themselves. It can also be used as a reference when making business cases or trying to influence upwards when negotiating on behalf of the mental health support workforce – making clear links to national policies will help your case.
In order to stay up to date with new publications follow on social media or via newsletters national bodies such as Health Education England, NHS England and Improvement, Skills for Health, and NHS Employers. You can also find short summaries and opinion pieces via think tanks such as The King’s Fund or the Nuffield Trust. The National Workforce Skills Development Unit also conducts research and solutions to address the mental health workforce issues facing health and care services in England.
Publications and policies
The following resources are shown in chronological order and show a timeline of key publications and policy decisions relevant to the mental health support workforce.
Five Year Forward View for Mental Health
- Published February 2016 to set out the national plans for improving and expanding care until 2021.
- Author/Owner: An independent Mental Health Taskforce presented to the NHS in England.
Where is this relevant to the mental health support workforce?
Workforce planning for mental health across the entire care pathway has not been developed and as a result, opportunities are being missed to identify how changes in skill mix could help improve delivery, retain staff and tackle the highest vacancy rates.
Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, 2016, p. 44
The Five Year Forward View supports the argument for all workforce planning to include the mental health support workforce to ensure opportunities are not missed.
It goes without saying that people seeking NHS care need to be treated with compassion. But what is sometimes forgotten is that staff do too. The care they receive impacts on the care they are able to deliver. Ten million working days are lost each year to sickness absence in the NHS. Some 43 per cent of mental health staff cite work related stress as the cause, second only to ambulance trusts at 51 per cent.
Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, 2016, p. 45
The reported levels of sickness absence across the clinical support workforce in hospital and community services are high (8% in April 2020) compared with other staff groups such as scientific, therapeutic and technical workers (4%) (Nuffield Trust, 2021, pg. 37). This extract links this back to the impact on patient care. See the day-to-day management section for support to manage this.
Stepping forward to 2020/21: The mental health workforce plan for England
- Published in July 2017 sets out a high-level road map and reflects the additional staff required to deliver the transformation set out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.
- Author/Owner: Health Education England.
Where is this relevant to the mental health support workforce?
It is clear that as services expand, more mental health nurses will be needed to fill the new posts. Given the lead time to train a nurse, it will be essential to explore opportunities for reskilling and developing existing staff, as well as attracting qualified nurses back to the NHS.
Stepping forward to 2020/21, 2017, p. 10
Supports the focus and importance needed on developing existing mental health support staff. See career planning section of this toolkit for more information.
Occupational Therapists operate in a range of roles in mental health services, both generic and specific to their core training.
Stepping forward to 2020/21, 2017, p. 16
Reinforces the importance of Allied Health Professionals in delivering mental health services; the mental health support workforce can be an alternative recruitment pipeline for this role. See career planning section of this toolkit for more information.
Re. new roles - These developments demonstrate the opportunity to explore innovative workforce models. This may mean staff working to deliver specific care and treatment, including brief psychological interventions, case management and peer support, as an integral part of the multi-disciplinary team working alongside colleagues from more tradition professions. The quality of training, supervision, leadership and career progression would be key to the success of this development.
Stepping forward to 2020/21, 2017, p. 17
Support for new ways of working, opportunities for the mental health support workforce to (safely/legally) provide value in different ways, the importance of development as part of this. See career planning section of this toolkit for more information.
The NHS employs over 1.3m people and should be an exemplar in creating a mentally healthy workplace: reducing stress and improving wellbeing, supporting staff who develop mental health problems and welcoming them back to work when they are ready.
=Stepping forward to 2020/21, 2017, p. 23
The reported levels of sickness absence across the clinical support workforce in hospital and community services are high (8% in April 2020) compared with other staff groups such as scientific, therapeutic and technical workers (4%) (Nuffield Trust, 2021, pg. 37). This extract links this back to the impact on patient care. See the day-to-day management section for support to manage this.
All mental health staff, particularly those based in the community, need skills in prevention and improving physical health.
Stepping forward to 2020/21, 2017, p. 23
Support for training on this for the mental health support workforce to be part of training plans. See Making Every Contact Count (MECC). See learning and development section of this toolkit for more information.
NHS organisations currently loses 10,000 staff each year from mental health services. As well as being an inefficient use of public money, driving up agency and bank costs, as well as appointment processes, a high turnover rate is often associated with poorer quality of care, and may be symptomatic of deeper problems within an organisation.
Stepping forward to 2020/21, 2017, p. 23
Evidence of the impact of turnover and why initiatives to improve retention of the mental health support workforce are vital. See the workforce planning, recruitment and exit planning sections of this toolkit for more information.
“…encourage and support more flexible approaches to retirement, offering more flexible arrangements so that the NHS can retain most of its skilled and experience staff.
Stepping forward to 2020/21, 2017, p. 24
‘Untapped? Understanding the mental health clinical support workforce’ the Nuffield Trust report tells us that 27% of mental health clinical support staff are 45 to 54 years old, compared with 21% for the working-age population as a whole. Find out more about valuing older members of the workforce in the workforce planning section of this toolkit.
The NHS Long Term Plan
- Published in January 2019 and sets out how to make the NHS fit for the future, and to get the most value for patients out of every pound of taxpayers’ investment.
- Author/Owner: NHS England and Improvement.
Where is this relevant to the mental health support workforce?
Read Chapter 4 which focuses specifically on workforce. See workforce planning section of this toolkit for more information.
To make this Long Term Plan a reality, the NHS will need more staff, working in rewarding jobs and a more supportive culture. By better supporting and developing staff, NHS employers can make an immediate difference to retaining the skills, expertise and care their patients. They can, and will, also do more to improve equality and opportunities for people from all backgrounds to work in the NHS.
The Long Term Plan, 2019, pg. 78
This is key for supporting the majority of initiatives aimed at the mental health support workforce.
Many of those leaving the NHS would remain if they were offered improved development opportunities and more control over their working lives.
The Long Term Plan, 2019, pg. 78
Supports increased opportunity for learning and development aimed at the mental health support workforce. See learning and development section of this toolkit for more information.
Interim NHS People Plan
- Published in June 2019 it sets out the vision for people who work for the NHS to enable them to deliver the NHS Long Term Plan.
- Author/Owner: NHS England and Improvement.
Where is this relevant to the mental health support workforce?
There are significant staff shortages across the country in many parts of our workforce; however, shortages in nursing are the single biggest and most urgent we need to address…We have vacancies across all areas of nursing, with the most significant shortages in mental health, learning disability, primary and community nursing.
Interim NHS People Plan, 2019, p. 20
Embedding clear and obtainable career pathways from the mental health support workforce into nursing roles will help reduce staff shortages. See career planning section of this toolkit for more information.
NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24
- Published in July 2019 it provides a framework to deliver the mental health commitments of the NHS Long Term Plan.
- Author/Owner: NHS England and Improvement.
Where is this relevant to the mental health support workforce?
Indicative Workforce Profile by Staff Group (Annex B Table 1 – pg. 54) in the NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan indicates the need for 6090 more clinical support staff by 2023/24.
The need for more clinical support staff means that retention is more important than ever. See workforce planning, recruitment and exit planning section of this toolkit for more information.
We expect local areas to ensure the appropriate workforce is in place to staff services, which may be different depending on their existing workforce and local availability…local systems have been asked to develop local ‘people plans.
NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24 , 2019, p. 13
Ensure that the mental health support workforce are part of your local plans. Refer to the Workforce planning and Networks sections of this toolkit for more information on how to do this.
We are the NHS: People Plan for 2020/2021 – action for us all
- Published in July 2020 it builds on the interim people plan to set out what NHS people can expect from their leaders and from each other.
- Author/Owner: NHS England and Improvement.
Where is this relevant to the mental health support workforce?
There should be continued focus on upskilling – developing skills and expanding capabilities - to create more flexibility, boost morale and support career progression. Systems should keep the need for local retraining and upskilling under review, working in partnership with local higher education institutions.
We are the NHS, 2020, p.34
This gives further support to any development initiatives aimed at the mental health support workforce. Use the ‘Working with Higher Education Institutions’ section of this toolkit to support your activities.
HEE is prioritising continued investment in training the future mental health workforce to support significant expansion in psychological therapies for children and young people, boosting the number of advanced clinical practitioners, psychiatrists and mental health nurses.
In 2020/21 this will include enabling up to 300 peer-support workers to join the mental health workforce and expanding education and training posts for the future workforce, including over 100 additional responsible clinicians, 50 community-based specialist mental health pharmacists, nearly 3,000 adult IAPT practitioners, 245 children and young people’s psychological wellbeing practitioners and 300 children and young people’s IAPT practitioners.
HEE is also increasing the number of training places for clinical psychology and child and adolescent psychotherapy by 25% (with 734 starting training in 2020/21) and investing in measures to expand psychiatry, starting with an additional 17 core psychiatry training programmes in 2020/21 in areas where it is hard to recruit, and the development of bespoke return to practice and preceptorship programmes for mental health nursing.
We are the NHS, 2020, p.41
This indicates where career opportunities – as well as focussed priorities - might lie for the mental health support workforce. See career planning section of this toolkit for more information.
By October 2020, employers, in partnership with staff representatives, should overhaul recruitment and promotion practices to make sure that their staffing reflects the diversity of their community, and regional and national labour markets.
We are the NHS, 2020, p.25
The mental health support workforce have the potential to be diverse (Nuffield Trust, 2021, pg 51) and so building on this will help organisations meet diversity drivers. See Equality, Diversity and Inclusion section of this toolkit for more information.