Improving across the boundaries of Acute and Mental Health

Our programme to support teams working at the interface between acute ED and mental health to develop solutions to local issues.
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Here at the NHS Confederation, we are committed to supporting healthcare professionals to implement improvement solutions to known national challenges. 

One of these challenges is what happens at the interface between the emergency department and secondary mental health services, and how a person with mental health needs presenting at A&E is cared for and managed.   

Resolving this is critical to improving care and patient experience and outcomes for people with mental health needs. It is also important for dealing with operational challenges, improving processes and relationships between staff.  

Our new improvement collaborative programme seeks to strengthen and encourage cross system working by supporting practical, real-time testing of improvement ideas across these boundaries. 

The development programme - interface working across mental health and acute care

The programme will run for 12-months from May 2025 to April 2026. There will be a total of six virtual learning sessions, supported by three webinars. 

Through the programme, you and your teams will receive extensive support to design and implement solutions to overcome challenges to interface working in your areas. 

Steps involved include culture and leadership, exploring the problem, understanding the data, testing out ideas, implementing improvements, learning and reviewing progress, and spreading and sustaining change. 

All of the material will be informed by improvement methodology, and the sessions will be presented in a safe, non-judgmental space, where you will also be able to hear from other teams working on similar issues in different parts of the country. 

  • Programme schedule

    You will benefit from a structured course of resources, webinars and learning sessions focused on proven improvement methodology, as well as examples of best practice to be inspired by. All of the sessions will be delivered remotely, with the details as follows:

    • Session one: Launch: Understanding the problem (10:00-12:30, 21 May 2025)
    • Session two: Measurement & scoping out potential solutions (13:30-16:00, 23 July 2025)
    • Session three: Human factors & behavioral change (13:30-16:00, 26 November 2025)
    • Session four: Testing out improvement ideas (10:00-12:30, 24 September 2025)
    • Session five: On-going testing & sustainability (10:00-12:30, 28 January 2026)
    • Session six: Celebration: Recognition, spread & sharing (13:30-16:00, 29 April 2026)
    • Webinar one: Understanding health inequalities (11:00-12:30, 18 June 2025)
    • Webinar two: Leading through change (11:00-12:30, 22 October 2025)
    • Webinar three: Topic to be confirmed according to needs expressed during the programme (11:00-12:30, 18 March 2026)

How to apply

Applications open on 27 January and close on 7 March 2025.

You can apply by completing this attached form.

The improvement collaborative is open to all teams and staff working in acute and mental health organisations, as well as other key partners.  

For example, the team could include an operational manager, quality improvement lead, emergency medicine consultant or nurse from an acute hospital, and on the other side, a psychiatrist, mental health nurse, voluntary sector professional, commissioner, police representative or care coordinator from a mental health trust or provider.  

The team must consist of a minimum of 6 people, and we would also strongly support including someone with lived experience of mental health crisis care in your teams.

There is no cost for teams applying to join the programme this year, however, priority will be given to NHS Confederation members.

Places are limited, and previous interface improvement programmes have been over-subscribed.

We recommend that if you plan to apply you reach out to us informally ahead of time. You are also welcome to ask any questions you might have. 

For any questions or to express an interest ahead of making an application, please feel free to contact either:

We may also be able to offer assistance and advice in connecting you with colleagues from organisations on the other side of the interface. 

You can find more information about a previous interface improvement programme we ran in 2024 to support teams working at the boundaries of primary and secondary care by viewing our learning hub here.