In its ‘Life Sciences Vision’ report, the UK government shared plans to make the UK the most attractive place in the world for Life Sciences innovation.
Working with the NHS and the Life Sciences sector, the plan sets out ambitions to build on the UK’s world class science and research capabilities, ensuring the NHS uses the latest innovations and creates a prime environment for companies to invest and grow.
These plans were summed up in a set of ‘priority statements’ – also known as ‘Missions.’
The Mental Health Mission will increase capacity in mental health research through the provision of relevant training and creation of better systems to support industry led research and investment across the UK. Specific focus will be paid to addressing both areas of unmet need and high burden of mental illness.
The NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC), a UK-wide network currently comprising eighteen centres of excellence, has secured over £42 million for Phase 1 of the MHM, showing the strength of its collaborative approach.
£10m of this funding has been awarded via the MHM to two demonstrator sites in Birmingham and Liverpool.
Alongside this, the MHM will provide funding for an aligned mental health workforce across several national work streams developed by the NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC). Those workstreams are focused on :
- Capacity Development
- Children and Young People’s Mental Health
- Data and Digital
- Early Psychosis
- Mood Disorders
Delivery of Phase 1 of the MHM is a major component of the strategic remit of the MH-TRC.
Particular focus of the MHM will be paid to addressing barriers in research and supporting the development of new industrial partnerships whilst at the same time enabling testing and trialling of interventions in locations of significant need.
A dedicated team will work to ensure that commercial companies regard the UK as an ideal location in which mental health research and clinical trials can be conducted.
Ultimately, the MHM will provide a sustainable and research-ready environment that is able to support the pace and scale of mental health research required to address current needs.
The MHM will address the significant unmet need for innovative new treatments and technologies, through deepening the understanding of mental ill health, and using this knowledge to advance the development of new therapies and products.
Aims of the Mission
- To partner with industry to accelerate the development of new interventions to diagnose, monitor and treat mental ill-health.
- Identify, and solve, the problems that currently slow and disincentivise research- research capability, patient recruitment and contracting.
- Build on existing centres of research excellence to extend research capacity across the whole UK, particularly in areas with high prevalence of mental illness.
- Establish the UK as the place to conduct innovative mental health research by bringing together the UK research base, full national NHS coverage and partnership with industry and regulators.
Funding
The request for approval to fund the mental health mission was submitted by the MH-TRC and confirmed in February 2023 by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The proposal was funded in full approx. £42m over five years (phase 1)
Phase 1 of the Mental Health Mission will be overseen and managed by the MH-TRC reporting to NIHR / DHSC.
