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Posted on Jul 11 2025 by Bobbie Kelly

St Andrew’s Healthcare's response to the Ten-Year Health Plan

  • Welcomes support for prevention and local mental health care.
  • Calls for greater focus on patient recovery from hospital to community.

St Andrew’s Healthcare, the UK’s largest charity specialising in complex mental health, has welcomed the publication of the Ten-Year Health Plan. However, it cautions that more must be done to close the gap between hospital and community care for individuals with the most severe conditions.

Executive Medical Director, Dr Sanjith Kamath, commented:linkedinposts 5

“We strongly welcome the emphasis on prevention, the expansion of community mental health services, and investment in dedicated emergency mental health departments. These initiatives have the potential to address mental health issues early, before problems spiral out of control.

 “It is also encouraging to see the Government taking an ambitious approach to integrated, continuous care. Support should never end simply because someone moves between different healthcare settings.”

Despite the positive steps, Dr Kamath highlighted an ongoing shortfall in funding, workforce shortages and the provision for those ready to leave hospital but who need specialist support to reintegrate into the community. As a result, thousands of people remain in psychiatric hospitals, awaiting community support and housing.

“To address the significant rise in mental illness in the UK, we need to tackle the challenge from both ends. We need to prevent people from becoming seriously ill. At the same time, when someone becomes severely unwell and requires specialist inpatient psychiatric hospital care, we must support their rehabilitation and, where possible, transition back into the community with specialist care,” Dr Kamath said.

St Andrew’s has developed a blueprint for addressing this gap. Last year, it launched its Supported Transition Service, designed to help patients with complex, specific needs live more independently outside of traditional ward environments. Specialist staff are on-hand to offer tailored support as required.