For anyone living with complex mental health conditions, a community care plan can help them to get the support they need to achieve their goals and live well.

To ensure this is possible, information about a person’s needs and care must be made available to those who need it. That is why the NHS England Improvement team has asked us to develop a national information standard for the newly introduced community mental health care plans.

The standardised digital care plan will support the NHS to offer community-based services for people with serious mental health problems. These services will include access to psychological therapies, improved physical health care, employment support, personalised and trauma informed care, medicines management and support around self-harm and co-existing substance use.

We will work with people, carers and health and care professionals to determine the information that needs to be shared in the plan and how it should be recorded. The work follows on from our digital care and support plan standard, which is available to view on our website.

“The new standard will mean that vital information about care can be recorded and shared with the right people,” said Sarah Markham, an academic and citizen lead on the project. “For those of us who are living with serious mental health conditions it will reduce anxiety and enhance the quality of care and treatment. Anything that can alleviate anxiety is a positive step and will support a better quality of life.”

If you’re interested in hearing more about the project or getting involved please contact us on info@theprsb.org.