Mind home › Our campaigns › Current campaigns › NHS reform

Reforming the NHS

The government is making the biggest changes to the NHS since its formation. We want the changes to make mental health services better, not worse.

We want to ensure that mental health service users are supported in the new system, that there is a choice of high quality mental health services available within a reasonable waiting time, and that service standards do not decline.

We support the move towards increasing patient voice - meaning that you have a say both in decisions about your own care and in how local mental health services are designed. We want to ensure the action taken on this is effective and not just tokenistic.

Our campaign has several strands:

  • attempting to amend the Health & Social Care bill as it passes through Parliament. (Read our evidence on GP commissioning for the health select committee and the oral evidence; our joint response to the second reading of the Health and Social Care Bill; or our joint evidence to the Public Bill Committee.)
  • our Chief Executive, Paul Farmer, is part of the NHS Future Forum's group who suggested major alterations to the bill in May, most of which have been listened to. The group has been re-appointed to help the government work up solutions on four new areas
  • influencing the new bodies being developed - such as HealthWatch England, the NHS Commissioning Board, Clinical Senates, Public Health England - and the guidance they produce, wherever our connections enable this
  • supporting local Minds to influence services commissioned in their area and to advocate for local people
  • helping individuals to campaign on what matters to them in their local area

If you have ideas about what you most want improved let us know by emailing action@mind.org.uk.

Are waiting times the biggest barrier? Do you want a wider choice of treatments?  Do you want the services you receive to be better joined up and more consistently available? Mind will be most effective in improving services if we hear from you.

We use the experiences of individuals who email us as case studies when trying to explain to government what the reforms will mean for mental health service users.

Tags (entire site): NHS reform

Share |
Back to top ↑