News / Guidance arrives early for mental health PBR

The Department of Health has published draft mental health payment by results (PBR) guidance early as trusts and commissioners gear up for the first implementation of PBR in mental health.

NHS deputy chief executive David Flory said the mental health draft guidance was being published early in recognition of the scale of the changes. As a result, the mental health guidance released alongside the road test package at the end of this year will be the final version.

The draft outlines a proposal to mandate the use of national currencies for contracting, with local prices, for adult mental health services from 2012/13.

While cluster cost information would vary in quality and quantity, the Department insisted that implementation be cost-neutral in 2012/13. Commissioners should apply the same tariff uplift for their total spend with each mental health provider as for acute providers.

Historical differences in costs or contract values may mean a provider agrees different local prices with different commissioners, but each trust should agree a single price for each cluster for 2013/14.

The starting point for local prices in 2012/13 should be the total reference costs for 2010/11 adjusted by the tariff uplift for 2011/12 and 2012/13, and any other jointly agreed changes.