Mental health budget worth £1.9bn 'to be devolved'

Mental health budget worth £1.9bn 'to be devolved'  Mental health specialised commissioning will be fully devolved to providers within the next three years, according to the chief executive of a major mental health trust. Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust chief executive John Short told HSJ he expected NHS England’s £1.9bn specialised commissioning budget would be devolved to provider collaboratives.
“I think within two-and-a-half to three years all the £1.9bn of NHS England mental health spec comm will be run by collaboratives. That ambition is Simon Stevens’ ambition”, he said. Mr Short said he sat on an NHS England advisory board set up to examine how more of this budget, which includes forensic adult mental health, inpatient child and adolescent mental health, and eating disorder services, can be shifted to groups of providers. HSJ