Improving Access to Psychological Therapies

This aims to support SHAs and Primary Care Trusts (PCTS) in implementing National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders. Six million adults suffer from these conditions and at present less than a quarter are in treatment with major impacts for these individuals, their families and for society. The IAPT programme is addressing this by supporting the implementation of a £173 million programme to commission new services and courses for 3,600 newly trained therapists, who will enable 900,000 more people to access treatment, by 2011. It began with two pilot sites in 2006 and now has 35 active schemes in PCTs with a further 81 coming on stream in 2009-10.

• Programme Lead - James Seward
• Primary Care Lead - Tom Dodd
• Workforce Lead - Roslyn Hope

Promoting Equalities in Mental Health

The Mental Health Equalities Programme aims to improve the quality of life of people from diverse backgrounds who experience mental distress. The programme has specialist workstreams for race, gender and later life. The Delivering Race Equality (DRE) programme started in 2005 and has a five year action plan to improve access, outcomes and experiences in mental health for all people of Black and Minority Ethnic origin, including people of Irish, Mediterranean and East European origin and people from traveller communities. Gender Equality and Women's Mental Health's primary aim is to support the development of mental health systems to deliver appropriate gender sensitive services with a particular focus on women. Mental Health in Later Life supports the development of services for older adults to help local organisations and communities implement policy and promote innovation and equality of access.

•   Delivering Race Equality - Melba Wilson
• Mental Health in Later Life - Polly Kaiser
• Gender and Womens Mental Health - Sue Waterhouse

Promoting Social Inclusion and Social Justice

This programme offers support in the development of social inclusion and social justice for people using mental health services. In 2009/10 there will be a particular focus on the implementation of Public Service Agreement (PSA) 16 to increase the proportion of socially excluded people in contact with secondary mental health services in settled accommodation, employment, education or training. There will be an emphasis on developing ways of measuring progress, providing access to national expertise, dissemination of evidence and good practice to help regional and local partners to better achieve their outcomes for people and communities. Another important strand will be continuing to support effective means of challenging discrimination and stigma through the SHiFT programme.

• Interim Programme Lead - Paddy Cooney
• SHIFT - Gary Hogman

Improving Mental Health Care Pathways

This will support the development of evidence-based care pathways, robust care planning and effective interventions across primary, secondary and specialist care settings. Leads within the programme have particular expertise in areas that continue to challenge both services and commissioners including improved delivery of acute care, early intervention, dual diagnosis, independent mental health advocacy, children and young people, personality disorder and responding appropriately to the experience of violence and abuse. The work of the programme is underpinned by commitments to recovery, the development of personalised care, social inclusion and providing best value in the use of mental health and well being resources.

• Programme Lead - Jim Symington
• Personality Disorder - Nick Benefield
• Dual Diagnosis -  Tom Dodd / Ann Gorry
• Independant Mental Health Advocacy - Malcolm King
• Violence and Abuse - Liz Mayne
• Mental Health Act (MHA) 2007 Implementation Programme Children and Young People-Kathryn Pugh
• Early Intervention - David Shiers / Jo Smith
• Acute Care - Yvonne Stoddart

Promoting Wellbeing and Public Mental Health

This programme aims to help support the increasing importance of mental health and well-being across a range of public and social policies including modern mental health policy. The initial focus will be on supporting what the NHS and local authorities are already doing and what more they can do together with other key partners, including the voluntary sector, to improve and sustain community, family and individual well-being. Building and transferring knowledge, experience, skills and capacity among commissioners and providers and developing ways to identify, describe and measure well-being will form the early work of the well-being programme in collaboration with local, regional and national partners.

• Programme Lead - Gregor Henderson
• Suicide Prevention Implementaition Strategy - Keith Foster

Personalisation in Mental Health- Emerging Programme

This emerging programme, currently in set-up and development phase, is an increasing priority for the NMHDU and is likely to form a core part of the NMHDU's work plan in 2010/11. The programme aims to provide a strong national voice, point of connection and focus to drive personalisation in mental health from policy to practice. To support the roll out of the 23 mental health focused Putting People First personal health budget national pilots and trail-blaze early adopter PCTs and other providers, enabling peer groups to share learning and experience of implementation. A further aim is to provide practical guidance to commissioners of mental health services, in particular those from PCT, Foundation Trust and other mental health providers, enabling them to locally commission  personalised service provision that is cost effective and transforms lives.

• Programme Lead - Kevin Lewis

The National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU) is the agency charged with supporting the implementation of mental health policy in England by the Department of Health in collaboration with the NHS, Local Authorities and other major stakeholders.