Website of the Department of Health
Please note that this website has a UK government access keys system.
Page menu
You are here:
Mental health
Mental health services in England are experiencing a period of unprecedented change. In the last five years, a wealth of evidence has emerged about which practices are effective and which are not. Recent policy and consultation documents, implementation guides and good practice examples are available here.
Mental health news
New articles, strategy documents, guidance articles and letters published by the Mental health team at DH.
Mental health publications
Mental health secure services
Legislation and guidance on services that provide treatment for people with mental health disorders that mean that they are at significant risk of harming themselves or others. Many of these patients will be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.
Black and minority ethnic mental health
One in five mental health in-patients comes from a black and minority ethnic (BME) background, compared to about one in ten of the population as a whole. In January 2005, the Department of Health published a five-year action plan, Delivering Race Equality (DRE) in Mental Health Care. DRE aims to help mental health services provide care that fully meets the needs of BME patients and build stronger links with diverse communities.
Contact the National Director for Mental Health
Contact Louis Appleby, the National Director for Mental Health, with your views on mental illnesses and mental health services.
Additional links
Related Links
National service framework for mental health
September 1999 blueprint for tackling mental health problems. Sets out detailed directions and goals for improved mental health services all over England.
National Institute for Mental Health in England
National network launched in 2002 to improve the quality of life of anyone with a mental health problem.
Additional Links
- Everybody's Business. Integrated mental health services for older adults: a service development guide (opens new window)
- National confidential inquiry into suicide and homicide by people with mental illness (opens new window)
- Personality disorder website (opens new window)
- Public Guardianship Office (opens new window)
Access keys
