Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027

Summary of Actions

Prevention and early intervention

1. Review Personal and Social Education ( PSE), the role of pastoral guidance in local authority schools, and services for counselling for children and young people.

2. Roll out improved mental health training for those who support young people in educational settings.

3. Commission the development of a Matrix of evidence-based interventions to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.

4. Complete the rollout of national implementation support for targeted parenting programmes for parents of 3- and 4-year olds with conduct disorder by 2019-20.

5. Ensure the care pathway includes mental and emotional health and wellbeing, for young people on the edges of, and in, secure care.

6. Determine and implement the additional support needed for practitioners assessing and managing complex needs among children who present a high risk to themselves or others.

7. Support an increase in support for the mental health needs of young offenders, including on issues such as trauma and bereavement.

8. Work with partners to develop systems and multi-agency pathways that work in a co-ordinated way to support children's mental health and wellbeing.

9. Support the further development of 'Think Positive' to ensure consistent support for students across Scotland.

10. Support efforts through a refreshed Justice Strategy to help improve mental health outcomes for those in the justice system.

11. Complete an evaluation of the Distress Brief Intervention by 2021 and work to implement the findings from that evaluation.

12. Support the further development of the National Rural Mental Health Forum to reflect the unique challenges presented by rural isolation.

13. Ensure unscheduled care takes full account of the needs of people with mental health problems and addresses the longer waits experienced by them.

14. Work with NHS 24 to develop its unscheduled mental health services to complement locally-based services.

Access to treatment and joined-up, accessible services

15. Increase the workforce to give access to dedicated mental health professionals to all A&Es, all GP practices, every police station custody suite, and to our prisons. Over the next five years increasing additional investment to £35 million for 800 additional mental health workers in those key settings.

16. Fund the introduction of a Managed Clinical Network to improve the recognition and treatment of perinatal mental health problems.

17. Fund improved provision of services to treat child and adolescent mental health problems.

18. Commission an audit of CAMHS rejected referrals, and act upon its findings.

19. Commission Lead Clinicians in CAMHS to help develop a protocol for admissions to non-specialist wards for young people with mental health problems.

20. Scope the required level of highly specialist mental health inpatient services for young people, and act on its findings.

21. Improve quality of anticipatory care planning approaches for children and young people leaving the mental health system entirely, and for children and young people transitioning from CAMHS to Adult Mental Health Services.

22. Support development of a digital tool to support young people with eating disorders.

23. Test and evaluate the most effective and sustainable models of supporting mental health in primary care, by 2019.

24. Fund work to improve provision of psychological therapy services and help meet set treatment targets.

25. Develop more accessible psychological self-help resources and support national rollout of computerised CBT with NHS 24, by 2018.

26. Ensure the propagation of best practice for early interventions for first episode psychosis, according to clinical guidelines.

The physical wellbeing of people with mental health problems

27. Test and learn from better assessment and referral arrangements in a range of settings for dual diagnosis for people with problem substance use and mental health diagnosis.

28. Offer opportunities to pilot improved arrangements for dual diagnosis for people with problem substance use and mental health diagnosis.

29. Work with partners who provide smoking cessation programmes to target those programmes towards people with mental health problems.

30. Ensure equitable provision of screening programmes, so that the take up of physical health screening amongst people with a mental illness diagnosis is as good as the take up by people without a mental illness diagnosis.

31. Support the physical activity programme developed by SAMH.

Rights, information use, and planning

32. Use a rights-based approach in the statutory guidance on the use of mental health legislation.

33. Commission a review of whether the provisions in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 Act fulfil the needs of people with learning disability and autism, taking forward new legislative measures if necessary.

34. Reform Adults With Incapacity ( AWI) legislation.

35. Work with key stakeholders to better understand Mental Health Officer capacity and demand, and to consider how pressures might be alleviated.

36. Work with employers on how they can act to protect and improve mental health, and support employees experiencing poor mental health.

37. Explore innovative ways of connecting mental health, disability, and employment support in Scotland.

Data and measurement

38. Develop a quality indicator profile in mental health which will include measures across six quality dimensions - person-centred, safe, effective, efficient, equitable and timely.

39. Establish a bi-annual forum of stakeholders to help track progress on the actions in this Strategy, and to help develop new actions in future years to help meet our ambitions.

40. Carry out a full progress review in 2022, the halfway point of the Strategy, to ensure that lessons are learnt from actions to that point.