The NHS Mental Health Strategy 2026 – what’s to come

The DHSC launched its call for evidence on May 15th, 2026, during Mental Health Awareness Week. The government described it as a “once-in-a-generation cross-government mental health strategy” - the first of its kind for England.

The call for evidence was not to produce a policy document. It was a consultation designed to gather practical implementation evidence before a full strategy is published. The call for evidence asked for examples of what good mental health support looks like, where the system falls short, and how services can be better designed and delivered.

The DHSC was explicit about the scope of what it wanted to hear about:

• Preventive approaches with the strongest evidence for reducing incidence or severity of mental health problems
• How services can better support people who do not meet the criteria for NHS services
• What further support should be provided to people with severe and enduring mental illness to reduce inpatient lengths of stay, avoid crisis admissions, and support participation in employment and community life
• Commissioning, funding and accountability arrangements that best support safe and integrated mental health services
• How partnership working between councils, the NHS, and other sectors can be improved
• Digital and neuroinclusive models of care to complement existing provision

Digital models attracted significant attention from the technology sector. techUK submitted a formal response covering the evidence base for digital and AI tools, interoperable data across health, social care, education, housing and employment, and the commissioning and accountability reforms needed to embed digital approaches sustainably.

Before planning around the strategy, independent providers need to understand its current limits.

• There are no confirmed targets for reducing community mental health waiting times. 
  Over 1.7 million people are estimated to be on mental health waiting lists in England. The strategy contains no immediate measures to address that backlog, and no published waiting time targets have been set.
• There is no published timeline for the final strategy.
  The government has stated the strategy will be published "later this year." The written ministerial statement of May 19th, 2026 confirmed this, but no specific publication date has been given. The strategy is still being shaped.
• The call for evidence was not a commissioning framework.
  It gathered evidence. The commissioning implications - how ICBs will contract, what service models will be prioritised, what digital standards will be required - will follow in the strategy itself and in subsequent NHS England guidance.

Independent providers who are treating the call for evidence as a signal of confirmed policy direction are moving too fast, and those who are ignoring it entirely are moving too slow. 

1. The shift to community-based commissioning, and what ICBs are already doing

The strategy's direction is clear even before publication. The government's stated ambition is a fundamental shift towards prevention; treating people earlier and faster, and supporting those with mental health conditions to live a full life and stay active in education, work, family life and their communities.

Integrated Care Boards are now the main buyers of NHS mental health provision across England. They are working to join up services that were historically fragmented, so that someone experiencing a mental health crisis does not fall through the gaps between their GP, A&E, and a community team without capacity. The biggest trend in 2026 is the continued push to move mental health services out of hospitals and into the community.

For independent providers, this creates both opportunity and risk. The opportunity is growing demand for community crisis alternatives, supported housing with mental health expertise, and early intervention programmes. The risk is that ICBs are increasingly scoring providers on their ability to deliver trauma-informed care and culturally appropriate services. If your workforce training, assessment tools, and care pathways do not reflect the diversity of the communities you serve, that gap will show in tender evaluations.

The strategy will also address how services can better support people who do not meet NHS thresholds — the “missing middle.” This is a segment where independent providers have historically operated, and the strategy's focus here could either formalise that role or create new competition from voluntary and community sector organisations that ICBs prefer to commission.

2. Digital maturity requirements: moving ahead of the strategy

The strategy's digital ambitions are being set partly by the call for evidence and partly by NHS England's existing planning frameworks, which are already in force.

The NHS England Medium Term Planning Framework (2026/27 to 2028/29) requires all providers in acute, community, and mental health sectors to onboard to the NHS Federated Data Platform and use its core products. From April 2026, providers are expected to make at least 95% of appointments available via the NHS App after appropriate triage. Digital patient-initiated follow-up, pre- and post-appointment questionnaires, and the ability for patients to manage their medicines and view waiting times are all required to be in place no later than the end of 2028/29.

These requirements apply to NHS-contracted providers. If you hold NHS contracts, these are not aspirational - they are planning obligations.

The call for evidence specifically asked about “effective and neuroinclusive digital models of care to complement existing support offers.” The strategy is likely to build on this by setting expectations around digital care pathways, shared care records, and electronic patient record interoperability. Fully harnessing digital technology - in particular electronic patient record systems that are fit for purpose in mental health services alongside shared care records - will create significant opportunities for data-driven decision making, better patient and staff experiences, and more personalised care.

For independent providers, the practical question is whether your current systems can meet these requirements. Providers who cannot demonstrate digital maturity will find it harder to win and retain NHS contracts as the strategy embeds.

3. The independent review into mental health, ADHD and autism — final findings expected imminently

The mental health strategy is being informed by a parallel independent review into the prevalence of and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and autism. 

An interim report was published on March 31st, 2026. It found that diagnosis rates of several common mental health conditions (principally depression and anxiety) have increased over the past three decades, with the clearest changes observed among younger adults. A second interim report was published on May 28th, 2026, which found economic consequences of the increased incidence of mental health conditions, including rising rates of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

The final findings of the review are expected in summer 2026 and will directly inform the Government's long-term strategy. The review's stated aim is to shift from a system that responds late and is overly focused on diagnosis to one that responds earlier, more proportionately, and with improving participation in education and work in mind.

For independent providers operating in ADHD assessment, autism diagnosis, or complex mental health services, the review's final recommendations could reshape commissioning expectations significantly. The government has also confirmed it will develop and publish a new cross-government autism strategy, as required under the Autism Act 2009, informed by the review's findings.

While the strategy is being finalised, the NHS Oversight Framework 2026/27 is already in force. ICBs are expected to ensure the quality and performance of independent providers of NHS services through contract management, and to escalate concerns to NHS England regions where necessary. NHS England continues to oversee certain independent providers under the Independent Providers Risk Assessment Framework.

This matters because the strategy, when published, will not operate in isolation. It will sit on top of an existing oversight architecture that is already tightening. Independent providers who are not actively managing their ICB relationships, contract performance data, and quality evidence are already behind.

The strategy might not have been published but the environment it will formalise is already taking shape. Independent providers should be taking three practical steps now:

1. Map your ICB relationships: The commissioning decisions that will determine your contract pipeline over the next three to five years are being made at ICB level. If you do not have active relationships with the commissioners in your geography, the strategy's publication will not change that.
2. Audit your digital maturity: The NHS App, Federated Data Platform, and shared care record requirements are already in the planning framework. Assess where your current systems sit against these requirements and build a roadmap. Waiting for the strategy to confirm the direction before acting will put you behind providers who are already investing.
3. Track the Fonagy review: The final findings are expected this summer and will directly shape the strategy's approach to ADHD, autism, and the “missing middle.” If your service model operates in these areas, the review's recommendations could either validate your approach or require you to adapt it.

As stated in our introduction, the DHSC call for evidence has concluded as of July 2026. The government has not yet published a specific date for the final strategy, but has committed to publishing it “later this year.” The Fonagy review's final findings are expected before the end of this summer however and will feed directly into the strategy's development.

The period between now and publication is a window in which the commissioning environment is being shaped, digital requirements are being set, and ICB relationships are being built or neglected. Independent providers who treat this as a live operational moment will be better positioned when the strategy lands.

The Access Group provides software for independent mental health providers, including care management, rostering, and digital compliance tools. To understand how Access can help your organisation meet NHS digital requirements, speak to our team.