News / Confed in MH tariff warning

A lot of work is still needed before the new mental health tariff is ready for launch next April, the NHS Confederation Mental Health Network said.

The network surveyed 100 people involved in preparations for the introduction of the mental health tariff and found enthusiasm for making mental health PBR work. But with all patients to be allocated to clusters by the end of this year and a local tariff to begin in April, there were calls for the government to be more realistic about the implementation time.

According to the survey, a third of mental health trusts had made considerable progress in devising a robust tariff, but half had not yet started. Nationally, interviewees worried about the lack of clear guidance from the Department of Health and poor communication. Poor data and inadequate IT systems have hampered progress in drawing up a tariff.

Most people interviewed plan to use the tariff next year alongside existing block contracts and with risk-sharing arrangements.

The report’s 16 recommendations include a PBR training programme for new commissioners and risk-sharing arrangements in contracts until commissioners and providers gain confidence in local tariffs.

It added the Department should commission a review of the variation in care packages attached to the tariff, and local organisations should look to form regional collaborations to implement PBR.

Though he acknowledged the early publication of draft guidance on mental health PBR, network director Steve Shrubb said there was a lot of work to be done before the tariff was ready. And he called for greater leadership and appropriate resourcing of the Department’s tariff development team.

‘This report should ring alarm bells in the NHS and for the government. We need to be realistic that the mental health tariff is only at the beginning stages of being ready,’ he added.