Website of the Department of Health

Still building bridges: the report of a national inspection of arrangements for the integration of care programme approach with care management

Social services departments and health authorities are now working more closely together to assess and plan services for people with mental illness and involve service users and their carers more fully. Most authorities have developed joint strategies for their mental health services and many services are now provided in a more flexible way. However, few authorities have achieved the level of integration required by the 1995 Department of Health guidance "Building Bridges".