8 May 2026
Foreword
Dear colleagues,
We are looking forward to Mental Health Awareness Week, and this year’s theme is ‘Action’, something which I feel we are particularly good at as a sector.
Awareness matters. It helps challenge stigma. It opens conversations and reminds people that mental health is something that affects all of us in some way either personally, or through our family, friends or work colleagues. But awareness has to lead to action to make a difference: action to improve access, quality and outcomes for people who use our services; action to support children and young people earlier; action to strengthen care for people with serious mental illness; and action to make sure people with a learning disability and autistic people receive the right support, in the right setting, at the right time.
Across mental health, learning disability and autism services, we see every day the commitment, skill and compassion of staff working in incredibly pressured circumstances. This week is also an important opportunity to recognise their wellbeing. Supporting staff is not separate from improving care — it is central to it. When teams feel valued, listened to and supported, they are better able to provide the safe, high-quality, compassionate care that patients, families and communities need.
My priorities remain clear: strengthening core mental health services, improving inpatient quality and flow, reducing inappropriate out of area placements, improving support for children and young people, and addressing the growing pressures around autism and ADHD. We must also continue to make mental health everyone’s business and help people in need of care access the right neighbourhood, primary, community or acute services which are most suitable for them.
Mental Health Awareness Week is a useful moment to pause, reflect and connect with people about why the work we all do matters. And whether it’s national reform or an everyday kindness everyone plays a role in improving your own or someone else’s mental health.
Kind regards,
Dr Nick Broughton
National Priority Programme Director for Mental Health, Learning Disability and Neurodevelopmental Conditions
Learning disability and autism updates
BBC’s Woman’s Hour features NHSE-funded autism peer support service
An NHS England-funded service for families and supporters of autistic people has been featured on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour programme.
Autism Central is a peer education service delivered by mental health charity Anna Freud that provides autism education and support for parents, families and wider support networks of all autistic people.
The broadcast, which features one of Autism Central’s peer guides talking about how the service benefited them, is available on BBC Sounds from timestamp 30:31.
Please share the broadcast with your peers and raise awareness of the support available via Autism Central.
Senior intervenors and senior children’s intervenors – supporting discharge
Senior intervenors (SIs) and senior children’s intervenors (SCIs) continue to be available via NHS interim management and support (IMAS) to support local systems with complex discharges for autistic people and people with a learning disability. A free triage conversation is available to explore cases before any contractual agreement. You can access the webinar and resources on NHS Futures to learn how the national programme improved outcomes and how to draw on this support locally.
Community Services Development Network: Learning Disability and Autism – 18 May at 10am
The next Community Development Network meeting is on 18 May at 10am via Teams. The Black Country will be on the call to talk about their Adult Key Worker project and NHSE will present on the new model of care for Mental Health Emergency Departments and Crisis Assessment Centres.
Colleagues are encouraged to join as the meetings are a great place to network. If you have something to share, please let the team know.
To join, please contact england.communitydevelopment@nhs.net. Resources and recordings are available on Futures NHS Learning Disability and Autism – Community Development Team – Futures.
Webinar – Improving care for autistic people of all ages with eating disorders and disordered eating, 3 June, 10am – 11:30am
Autistic children, young people and adults (as well as those that may be autistic) are at higher risk of developing eating disorders and/or disordered eating than non-autistic people. They are also at higher risk of having worse outcomes and negative experiences of services offering treatment for eating disorders and/or disordered eating and receiving more intensive services.
This webinar, led by the National Autism Team at NHS England, will highlight draft guidance around eating disorders and disordered eating. It will cover the necessary background and terminology. It will also cover considerations around recognition, formulation, treatment and support, accessible service design and reasonable adjustments, and family and carer involvement with an aim to improve outcomes.
The webinar is vital for programme managers, service leaders, clinicians, and anyone committed to improving the care for autistic children, young people and adults with eating disorders and disordered eating.
For any further information please contact england.autismteam@nhs.net or to book a place register here.
Mental health updates
Improving Quality Oversight
NHS England has been working with a number of system partners to refine and test improvements to governance and oversight of Inpatient Care. The new ‘Quality of Care’ component of the Model Health System (View Quality of Care – Model Mental Health) has embedded the key Early Warning Signs emerging from the government’s Rapid Review into Inpatient Mental Health Data – allowing systems to review key quality metrics in one place. NHS England has also worked with a number of system partners to test improvements in governance and oversight in practice, and has collated a library of practical case studies.
Providers and systems are encouraged to continue to share their learning and case studies with the national team: england.mhldaqualitytransformation@nhs.net.
Join DHSC’s research on eating disorder care pathways for children and young people
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is conducting research to understand children and young people’s eating disorder (ED) care pathways. As part of this, they are seeking input from paediatric nurses or other stakeholders who have involvement with children and young people’s eating disorder care, for insights on how they access support and the nature of that support.
Participation would involve taking part in an online discussion group which will be held over 5 days in the w/c 11 May. Time commitment is minimal – participants would be asked to complete a couple of questions daily over 5 days, which they can answer at any convenient time and can fit around their schedules.
The perspectives of paediatric nurses are crucial to understanding young people’s eating disorder care and participation would be greatly appreciated. Please email emily.fobel@dhsc.gov.uk to express your interest, who will contact you with next steps and further information.
General updates
Bipolar peer support group
NHS England has created an NHS Futures workspace, curated by Balance Group, the peer support group for colleagues. The Futures workspace is open to all NHS and Social Care colleagues and contains resources and support concerning bipolar, for someone with lived experience, for a family member or as an ally. There is also a consultancy offer if you need help setting up equivalent groups in your organisation. You can access this here: Balance – Futures.
Case study
Royton man transforms his life with help from NHS talking therapies
Simon, 56, received support from NHS Oldham Talking Therapies, after stress and anxiety led to him experiencing symptoms, including chest pain and fatigue.
With a high-pressured job that took him around the world, Simon found his stress and anxiety levels rising as demands and lack of a work-life balance overwhelmed him. Simon explained:
“I was losing sight of what was important. As the breadwinner, work consumed my every thought, dictated my schedule and dominated my thoughts. I thought it was normal, and just came with the territory, but it was a real wake-up call when I started having physical symptoms.”
The therapy gave him renewed confidence and a more positive outlook, helping him return to work, recognise early warning signs, and take proactive steps to maintain his wellbeing. Read the full story.
Upcoming events and webinars
- 14 May, 12:30pm – 1:30pm: Lunch and learn webinar – speech and language therapy for children and young people
- 14 May, 4pm – 6pm: Autism and ADHD / AuDHD workshop
- 15 May, 11am – 1pm: Understanding & Responding to Complexity in Perinatal Care
- 26 May, 11am – 12:30pm: An Introduction to the Restricted Patient System
- 3 June, 9:30am – 3:30pm: Children Young People Diabetes Conference: Real Life, Real Care
- 9 June, 10:15am – 12pm: Neurodiversity and IPS: best practice for staff and clients
- 6 November, 9pm – 5pm: Medical mindfulness conference
Talk to us
Share your feedback
We want to know what you think of this bulletin. We value your opinion and want to know how we can improve the bulletin and make sure it is meeting your needs. Please share your thoughts via email at england.MHlearningdisabilityautismcomms@nhs.net.
Case studies
If you have any case studies which could be shared in this bulletin, please send them to us via email at england.MHlearningdisabilityautismcomms@nhs.net.
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