People with mental health issues to benefit from groundbreaking research, backed by £50 million in taxpayer funding
People with experience of mental health problems will be brought into the heart of cutting edge research to develop more effective treatments, as part of up to £50 million taxpayer funding being announced by the Government on Mental Health Day (Friday 10 October).
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This crucial work will make sure that the latest innovations in mental healthcare truly focus on solving the problems that could meaningfully change their lives. This backing will supercharge the efforts of researchers who are bringing the best of British science to help people manage their illness and prevent issues from escalating, with measures also planned to improve access to the UK’s world-class medical research data and facilities.
Improving life for the millions of Britons living with mental health problems is one of the most pressing healthcare challenges facing the UK today. Poor mental health affects 1 in 4 people in England alone, and is the UK’s single biggest driver of disability, with enormous consequences on people’s quality of life.
Similarly, the economic impact is vast, with mental health problems costing the economy some £300 billion a year owing to unemployment, staff absence, and the costs of care. Improving this picture forms an important part of delivering the health and economic growth missions that are central to the Plan for Change.
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The funding being announced today, on World Mental Health Day, will:
Science Minister Lord Vallance said:
Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said:
Co-Chair of the Mental Health Goals programme, Professor Kathryn Abel, said:
Co-Chair of the Mental Health Goals programme, Professor Husseini Manji, said:
Up to £50 million will be delivered over the next 5 years, under the Government’s Mental Health Goals programme, which was set up to speed up the pace at which new mental health medicines, technologies and therapies can be tested, proven, and then put to work. The Medical Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, will deliver investments enhancing mental health research data and digital infrastructure.
A central part of the Mental Health Goals programme is ensuring people with lived experience of mental health problems have a genuinely meaningful voice as new treatments and therapies are worked on.
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One example of what this can look like in practice is the work by DATAMIND, a mental health research hub funded principally by the Medical Research Council. DATAMIND worked with people with lived experience of mental health problems to produce a plain-English glossary of commonly-used mental health data science terms. This is a simple tool with powerful results: helping people to understand and have greater influence over how their health data is being used, building trust, and supporting them to engage confidently with research and trials in which they are participating to shape it for the better.
Major advances in genetics, neuroscience, imaging, and data science, as well emerging new digital technologies that could improve treatment, have immense potential to overhaul how we tackle mental health problems.
Bolstered by today’s investment, the Mental Health Goals programme will support researchers, the NHS and patients to work together to seize this opportunity. Efforts to improve the story on mental health underpin the wider work of the Life Sciences Sector Plan, to unleash life sciences as a force to better our health and wealth, and the 10 Year Health Plan, which is moving the health service from treatment to prevention.
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Stakeholder support for the Mental Health Goals programme:
Rachel Hastings-Caplan, Clinical Research Policy Manager at Rethink Mental Illness, said:
Dr Vanessa Pinfold, co-founder and research director at The McPin Foundation said:
Andrew Davies, Executive Director of Digital Health at the ABHI said:
Miranda Wolpert, Director of Mental Health at Wellcome, said:
ENDS
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