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NHS Commissioning - a toolkit for psychological therapy providers
Front cover
Heather Hurford, Director, Research and
Development in Mental Health (RDMH)
Yolande Watson, Associate to RDMH
Louise Robinson, Healthcare Development
Manager, BACP
Publication date - June 2009
55 pages
ISBN number: 9781905114313
BACP members - £15
Non-members - £25
‘These are exciting times for NHS provision of psychological therapies. Across the four nations, psychological therapy provision has achieved prominence on the health and wellbeing policy agenda. In England there is mainstream funding for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies that is far in excess of anything seen before. For existing services, these are also challenging times; with new funding and policy equating to changing service provision and new ways of working.'
Lynne Gabriel, Chair of BACP - extract from foreword
The toolkit aims to describe the developing NHS market for psychological therapies, provide a practical guide to support providers wishing to enter or remain in this market, and offer advice on how to engage with commissioners and the commissioning process.
This new publication offers:
- information relevant to providers in the four UK nations
- overviews of key points and signposting for further information on specific areas of interest
- references to different NHS settings (for example, primary care, secondary care and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)
The ten chapters of the toolkit cover key areas in terms of:
- NHS structures and healthcare policy
- commissioning (including world-class commissioning and practice-based commissioning)
- defining the role of psychological therapies and understanding the opportunities
- engaging with commissioners and understanding commissioning priorities
- preparing a business case and understanding the contracting and tendering processes
The recurring themes through the toolkit include: clinical governance; outcome measurement and reporting; improving access to psychological therapies.
It is designed to help readers easily identify the information within it, and elsewhere, that is most relevant to their current situation. In addition to narrative, the toolkit includes diagrams, tables, signposting to various information sources and suggested exercises that aim to help readers prepare and further develop their business case for commissioning.
Research and Development in Mental Health (RDMH) was commissioned by BACP to write the toolkit, based on work carried out by BACP (including consultation with members, desk research, surveys and interviews with commissioners) which identified what might be included in a toolkit for providers.