What the 10-Year Plan Means for Mental Health Services

Prevention is one of the three pillars of the 10‑Year Plan, and for mental health services, this shift to proactive health models is integral. Currently, 1 in 5 young people aged 8–25 in England have a probable mental health condition, yet accessing support remains difficult.

To help combat this, the plan pledges to expand access to talking therapies, boost mental health support within schools, and improve crisis pathways. These measures align with both the “hospital to community” and “sickness to prevention” shifts, ensuring more people receive support before they reach crisis point.

As Claire Murdoch, National Director for Mental Health at NHS England, emphasised at this year’s NHS Confed Expo: “If we are serious about prevention, then we must embed mental health in every part of the system, not just bolt it on.”

Hospital admission avoidance is high on the government’s agenda. For ambulance and acute trusts, crisis care remains one of the biggest pressure points, and mental health is a critical part of this. That’s why the 10-Year Plan includes a £120 million investment to create around 85 dedicated mental health emergency departments (MHEDs) across England. These units will provide 24/7 access to specialist doctors and nurses, ensuring people in acute distress are assessed within four hours and supported in a calm, purpose-built environment, rather than being left waiting in overcrowded A&E corridors.

Jim Mackey, Chief Executive of NHS England, highlighted the need for drastic changes such as these just weeks before the release of the plan during the Mental Health Network Conference we attended in May, emphasising how we can’t be expected to “solve the A&E crisis unless we solve the mental health crisis. Crisis services must be fast, accessible, and consistent.”

These new hubs, combined with urgent community response teams, have the potential to transform how quickly people can access care through hospitals and within local mental health services and neighbourhood settings. Embedding crisis support closer to where people live will enable emergency pathways to be linked with community and neighbourhood care models, ensuring that help is immediately accessible and locally grounded.

Technology is another major transformational effort that the plan focuses on. For adult mental health in particular, his shift from analogue to digital will enable access to be expanded by offering more convenient routes into support, such as through the NHS app, online therapies, or through virtual GP consultations and referrals. Not only does this speed up access to these services when people need it most, it also reduces pressure on already overstretched staff.

The plan states that by 2027, the NHS will aim to have 95% of people with complex care needs on a co-produced care plan, accessible via the NHS app. If this goal is met, it could be a game-changer in terms of clinical visibility and continuity of care.

Tech for neighbourhood care is already here, and digital platforms and AI-powered triage tools are already helping services manage rising referrals. For staff, digital dictation and ambient voice tools like SmartNotes can reduce the admin burden, cutting down on missed details while improving record-keeping and safety.

The success of the 10-Year Plan depends on a strong and resilient workforce. Since last summer, more than 6,700 extra mental health staff have been recruited, taking the government over halfway towards its goal of 8,500 new roles by the end of this Parliament. These additions support the wider ambitions of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, which aims to expand training pathways, apprenticeships and routes into mental health careers.

Alongside recruitment, the plan also commits to improving staff wellbeing, recognising that retention is as important as growth. Better access to occupational health and wellbeing support services is intended to ensure that staff can deliver safe, compassionate care while sustaining their own resilience. Yet with demand continuing to rise, sustained focus on both recruitment and retention will be vital if the ambitions of the plan are to be achieved.

Despite positive steps in the right direction, challenges and questions mostly certainly remain about how the government plans to implement these changes – and when. Funding growth has not always kept pace with demand, and timelines stretch beyond 2028. On top of this, delivery plans for many of the promised reforms remain vague, and aren’t expected to be published until winter.

But the sector is optimistic. Prevention, digital inclusion, and community integrated care are not new concepts, nor are they impossible to achieve. However, a strong, national commitment will be required to embed them all smoothly and ensure they manifest as reality.

The NHS 10-Year Plan gives mental health services a platform to achieve long-awaited parity with physical health. Prevention, crisis hubs, digital tools, and workforce growth all align with what the sector has been calling for. The challenge now is making sure these promises are delivered on time, with clear accountability.

If achieved, the next decade could be the moment when mental health stops being treated as an afterthought, and instead becomes a central pillar of the NHS - shaping how services are designed, funded, and experienced by patients across every community.