Excellence in Communications – Payers/Policymakers

Summary of work

Only 8% of people with schizophrenia are in work compared to 71% of people nationally, despite the fact that many can and would like to work, and work is cited as an important health outcome. Government prioritisation has led to the development of national outcome indicators on employment and mental illness, but access to evidence-based employment support services remains poor and a lack of incentives for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) means the issue remains a low priority locally. To address this, the campaign mobilised mental health stakeholders, parliamentarians, commissioners and providers to call for the development of a CCG outcome indicator and additional local incentives. The business case was set out in a parliamentary report, informed by a separate survey of the employment experiences of individuals with schizophrenia. These were discussed at a national parliamentary meeting, chaired by former Mental Health Minister, Rt. Hon Paul Burstow MP and attended by the National Clinical Director for Mental Health. This meeting led to the development of a Task and Finish Group, which worked with NHS England and the Health and Social Care Information Centre to successfully support the development of an outcome indicator, announced by NHS England in December 2013.

Judges comments

A well-structured campaign that is highly relevant to the existing NHS environment and leverages appropriate policy levers to deliver good, clear results, which was a tough ask in a difficult and complex environment. We were impressed by the clarity with which they identified the problem, the policy and the strategy to drive change and they were deservedly successful.