5th Future of NHS Mental Health: Strategies and Solutions Conference

Primary care, Mental Health & Long-Term Care

08:30 am
09 Jul, 2025
15Hatfields Conference Centre, London SE1 8DJ

5th Future of NHS Mental Health: Strategies and Solutions Conference

Primary care, Mental Health & Long-Term Care

08:30 am
09 Jul, 2025
15Hatfields Conference Centre, London SE1 8DJ

Job titles includes

Head Of Nursing - Mental Health Services

Chief Pharmacist

Deputy Chief Operating Officer

Associate Director of Nursing

Deputy Chief Medical Officer

Director of Mental Health

Head of Mental Health

Assistant Director

Deputy Director Adult Mental Health

Deputy Director Community mental and Physical 
Health Services

Associate Director  Adult Mental Health 
Strategic Commissioning

Associate Chief Nursing Officer for Mental Health  LD and Neurodiversity

Director  Mental Health  Learning Disabilities and Autism

Deputy Director Complex Care

Deputy Chief Information Officer

Deputy Head of Mental Health

Assistant Director

Chief Operating Officer

200
Delegates Registered

Organisations Involved

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB

Devon Partnership Trust

North London Foundation Trust

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

East Midlands Ambulance Service

(Mental Health  Learning Disabilities & Autism) North West London Integrated Care System

NHS Sussex

Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust

Norfolk & Waveney ICB

North Bristol NHS Trust

NWL ICB

NCL ICB

EPUT

Kent & Medway ICB

NELFT

Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Current Landscape and Challenges: 

The NHS is navigating a critical period of recovery and transformation, particularly in the realm of mental health services. Increased demand for services, financial constraints, and workforce challenges have created a complex landscape. The focus on mental health has never been more urgent, with an increasing need to address accessibility, service capacity, and disparities in mental health care.

Key challenges include addressing recruitment, retention, and capacity issues in mental health staffing, managing rising demand for mental health services across all age groups, operating with flat real funding despite inflation and budget pressures, and reducing disparities in access and outcomes for different demographic groups.

Importance and Timeliness of the Event:

The conference is particularly timely given the recent change in government. The new Labour administration has emphasised the importance of mental health in their health policy agenda. This shift offers fresh opportunities and challenges for the NHS to align its mental health strategies with national priorities and leverage potential new funding and policy support.

Key Content Streams:

Improving Access to Mental Health Services:

  • Strategies to ensure more individuals receive timely and appropriate mental health care.
  • Expansion of mental health support teams in schools and communities.

Eliminating Inappropriate Out-of-Area Placements:

  • Initiatives to increase local capacity and improve patient flow within local areas.
  • Enhancing crisis intervention and timely discharge processes.

Expanding Models of Community Mental Health Care:

  • Development of integrated, person-centred community care models.
  • Increasing reach to adults, perinatal, and young people’s mental health services.

Reducing Inequalities in Mental Health Care:

  • Efforts to provide equitable access to mental health services across all demographic groups.
  • Implementing comprehensive annual health checks for individuals with severe mental illnesses.

Workforce Development:

  • Strategies to grow and retain the mental health workforce.
  • Continuous professional development and training initiatives.

Embedding Digital Technology:

  • Utilising electronic patient records and telehealth to transform mental health care delivery.
  • Improving digital maturity and infrastructure within mental health services.

Implementing the Patient and Carers Race Equality Framework (PCREF):

  • Addressing disparities in mental health care for ethnic minority groups.
  • Enhancing cultural competency and engaging with diverse communities.

Why Attend: 

This conference is an exclusive opportunity for NHS professionals to gain insights into the latest strategies and initiatives to improve mental health services.

Attendees will have the chance to network with peers, leaders, and innovators in the field of mental health care, fostering collaboration and sharing best practices to address common challenges. Staying informed about the latest policy changes and funding opportunities under the new Labour government will be a key advantage.

Develop a positive mental health culture with our CMI Level 7 Mental Health & Wellbeing Award. 25% discount for conference attendees. Contact eleanor.morgan@convenzis.co.uk or https://www.convenzis.co.uk/training/events/cmi-level-7-award-in-strategic-approaches-to-mental-health

The programme

08:30

Registration & Networking

Registration - Open from 8:30 am - Closes at 11:00 am

All delegates must complete their registration process before the 11:00 AM cut-off time. Please arrive in a timely manner to allow for registration and to avoid any inconvenience. Delegates who arrive after the registration deadline will be refused entry to the event.

We appreciate your cooperation in helping us maintain the event's schedule and ensuring that everyone can fully participate in the Conference. If you have any questions or require assistance, our event staff will be available to assist you with the registration process.

Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to an insightful and productive event together!

09:30

Chair Opening Address (Confirmed)

Douglas Hamandishe
Digital Transformation Consultant at BrandMii
Clinican and Author of the AI Leverage: Building Purpose, Resilence and Success

Chair Opening Address (Confirmed)

09:40

Fireside Interview - Meeting the challenge - An Acute Trusts perspective (Confirmed)

Mr John Snowden
Deputy Clinical Lead - Mental Health
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Mr Paul Morris
Clinical Lead - Mental Health
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Discussion focusing on Mental Health Care within the Acute Trust environment. What does good look like?

10:00

Expanding Models of Community Mental Health Care Panel Discussion

Dale Coleman
Transforming Care Operations Manager
NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU)
Mr John Snowden
Deputy Clinical Lead - Mental Health
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Mr Paul Morris
Clinical Lead - Mental Health
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

This panel debate will explore the various models of community mental health care and discuss strategies for expanding these models to better serve diverse populations.

Key Subjects

  • Introduction to Community Mental Health Care Models
  • Overview of integrated care, peer support networks, and mobile crisis units.
  • Assessment of effectiveness in meeting community needs, with a focus on underserved areas.
  • Examination of benefits and challenges of different models.
  • The role of community involvement and culturally competent care.
  • Discussion on policy implications and funding mechanisms for model expansion.

10:50

Morning Break

Morning Break

11:50

Chair Morning Reflection (Confirmed)

Douglas Hamandishe
Digital Transformation Consultant at BrandMii
Clinican and Author of the AI Leverage: Building Purpose, Resilence and Success

Chair Morning Reflection (Confirmed)

11:55

Presentation: Assertive Community Mental Health Treatmnet : the national context and local implications (Confirmed)

Prof Mohammed Al-Uzri He/Him
Consultant Psychiatrist & Mental health Lead for NHS LLR ICB
Leicestershire Partnership NHS trust

Patients with Severe mental Illness (SMI) present a real challenge to mental health services when it comes to meet their complex needs. There is a small group of SMI patients who are difficult to engage, which makes it harder to provide them with treatment they need. Recent tragic cases highlighted the importance of providing the appropriate service for this unfortunate group of patients to avoid serious harm to themselves and others.

12:15

Presentation - The North Central Vanguard – An Innovative Mental Health and Community Care Approach (Confirmed)

Dr. Suchi Bhandari
Director of North Central London (NCL) Vanguard Services for Violence Reduction
North London Foundation Trust

The North Central London Vanguard is an innovative psychologically-led service that offers accessible, holistic wellbeing support to marginalised children and young people (CYP) affected by serious youth violence and offending. Our CYP co-produce and co-design this service at every level.

We deliver this as a multi-agency integrated and community approach to care in which our partnerships provide multi layered expertise to this cohort of young people.  Working in this way enables systemic changes.

The service is commissioned by NHS England (DoH) and co-produced in partnership with CYP, families, their communities, NHS, Local Authorities and the Voluntary Care Sector in Camden, Islington, Haringey, Enfield and Barnet. 

The service proactively engages deprived and excluded CYP who fall through the net of mainstream services to create positive health outcomes and seeks to re-address health and social inequalities contributing to vulnerability to poor mental health and offending.

12:35

Interview session - From pills to paintbrushes (Confirmed)

Debs Teale
Independent Consultant & Facilitator
The Debs Effect

Discussing my personal journey through the maze of the mental health system and now working to inform change in the system to be better for everyone involved.

12:55

Case Study - Thymia Ltd (Confirmed)

Synopsis TBC

13:20

Lunch and Networking

Lunch and Networking

14:05

Chair Afternoon Address (Confirmed)

Douglas Hamandishe
Digital Transformation Consultant at BrandMii
Clinican and Author of the AI Leverage: Building Purpose, Resilence and Success

Chair Afternoon Address (Confirmed)

14:10

Keynote Presentation - Mental Health Vehicles Working in the Ambulance Service (Confirmed)

Louise Whittaker
Advanced Paramedic Mental Health
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Programme leads Lesley Butterworth and Louise Whittaker discuss the evolution of the mental health response vehicle in the ambulance service, the role of their specialist paramedics and the partnerships they’ve developed.

14:20

Presentation - Designing System-Wide Mental Health Transformation: A Commissioning Support Perspective

Kate Forbes
Clinical Project Manager, Mental Health
South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW): Mental Health and Care Pathways Portfolio
Lydia Williams
Mental health Project Manager
South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW): Mental Health and Care Pathways Portfolio
Romy McCutcheon
Geospatial Analyst
South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit

This presentation is an example of work in Mental Health Transformation from a Commissioning Support Perspective. The presentation will focus on a project undertaken with 2 Local Authorities. The aim of this project was to provide recommendations for future commissioning of services for the prevention and early intervention of low-level mental health, eating disorders and self-harm for children and young people. The presentation will include how 3 strands of work (in -depth in person engagement, geospatial mapping and clinical effectiveness evidence review) were triangulated to produce localised evidence-based recommendations. 

14:50

Innovating through demand Panel Discussion

Dr Gurnak Singh Dosanjh
GP
LLR ICB
Jo Hillier
Chief Clinical Information Officer
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Anna Bokobza
Director of Strategy
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Mr Paul Morris
Clinical Lead - Mental Health
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

This panel discussion will delve into the latest innovations and advancements in mental health, exploring how new approaches, technologies, and strategies are transforming mental health care. The session will bring together experts from various fields to share insights, experiences, and visions for the future of mental health.

Panellists:

  • Anna Bokobza, Director of Strategy, Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (Confirmed)
  • Gurnak Singh Dosanjh (Confirmed)
  • Jo Hillier Chief Clinical Information Officer, Sussex, Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (Confirmed)
  • Paul Morris, Clinical lead, Mental Health, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (Confirmed)

15:30

Hot Buffet Food & Drinks

Hot Buffet Food & Drinks

17:00

End of day

End of day

Convenzisvents

Your Pass Includes....

  • Access to a leading conference speaker programme
  • Interactive Q&A sessions
  • Fireside interviews
  • Cross-sector best practice
  • Meet the supplier opportunities
  • Hot breakfast & Lunch included
  • Access to post event drinks reception and Street food

Tickets For NHS Senior Managers

We have an invite only option for NHS Senior Managers for our conference, to see if you qualify for a complimentary place please click the button below.

Register your place

Book tickets

Ticket
Price
Quantity
Charity, Not for Profit and University (In-Person)
£203.99 excl VAT
Limited places
0
Private Sector (In-Person)
£500.00 excl VAT
Limited places
0
Free NHS Ticket
£0.00 No VAT
Limited places
0

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