We welcome the recent publication of the Mental Health Personalised Care Framework (MHPF) from NHS England. The recommendations state that care should be personalised, adaptive to change, coordinated across health and social care, and delivered through a named worker with continual input from patients as well as their families and carers. These recommendations, when implemented, will lead to better outcomes for those suffering from mental illness.
The recognition of the complex needs of older people living with frailty and dementia alongside mental illness is encouraging, though we would have liked a little more detail on the specific needs of older people in the guidance, as is the case for children and young people in Annex B. For older people, severe mental illness is rarely experienced in isolation. It often coexists with other conditions, including frailty and dementia, resulting in poorer health outcomes, greater care needs and reduced independence. Services must recognise and address this complexity through specific measures for older people.
The BGS fully endorses the move to personalised multidisciplinary care for older people outlined in this guidance and, through our resources and members, stands ready to help deliver it.
