Cygnet welcomes collaboration to deliver the NHS Medium Term Planning Framework on mental health

Cygnet welcomes the NHS’s continued focus on improving the quality, accessibility, and productivity of mental health services outlined in the Medium Term Planning Framework. We fully align with the commitment that mental health care is critical not only for the people we support but for the smooth running of the wider NHS and the health of the nation.

Working collaboratively to meet growing and increasingly complex mental health needs across the UK, Cygnet’s strategy supports the NHS’s goals to enhance capacity, reduce waiting times, improve patient flow, decrease out of area placements and deliver high-quality, localised care.

Expanding Capacity and Enhancing Service Flow

We are working together with NHS partners to proactively address the needs of local areas, adapt our services to help alleviate capacity constraints and address inefficiencies, such as long waiting times and pressure on acute beds:

Providing Additional and Specialist Capacity:

• We offer additional beds and specialist care in line with what commissioners are telling us they need. This strategic partnership helps ensure the NHS can focus its resources appropriately while complex needs are met safely and effectively. We are open to discussing local needs and flexing our provision where it is possible and practical to do so.

Reducing Waiting Times through New Development:

• We are committed to building new, purpose-built hospitals and facilities co-produced and designed to the latest standards with patient recovery at the forefront. This expansion directly contributes to reducing waiting times by increasing the total supply of high-quality mental health beds and ensuring care is delivered in therapeutic environments. On average, in 2025 our services ensured that adults and young people needing emergency care were able to access it within 48 hours of their initial enquiry.¹

Improving System Flow with our Transitional Service:

• Our PICU/Acute transitional service (Discharge2Assess D2A) model is specifically designed to address systemic blockages and improve patient flow. This service facilitates swift and supported discharge from acute settings by offering a dedicated pathway for assessment and transition, which in turn reduces the average length of stay, offers localised care and frees up critical capacity.

By transferring the individual to the transitional service, a comprehensive assessment of their long-term care needs can be completed in a less restrictive, more community-focused setting. This approach ensures the final placement is fully appropriate, reducing the risk of a relapse and re-admission.

Localising Care and Improving Productivity

We share the NHS’s drive to localise care, reduce unwarranted variation, and improve productivity.

Forging Close Partnerships:

• We hold positive relationships with commissioners, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Provider Collaboratives, and NHS Trusts around the country. This collaboration is essential to accurately meet local demand, reduce reliance on out-of-area placements, and ensure that our services are adapted and commissioned effectively across both health and social care pathways. The Cygnet bed hub team ensure that emergency referrals are dealt with swiftly, with over 75% of referrals in the last 6 months being responded to in less than 30 minutes.²

Addressing Out-of-Area Placements and Locked Rehabilitation:

• Cygnet is actively working with commissioners to reduce inappropriate out-of-area placements by developing high-quality, locally accessible services which focus on therapeutic, recovery-focused models that align with the NHS Commissioning Framework.

Focus on Length of Stay and Productivity:

• Our clinical focus is continuously centred on reducing the average length of stay through evidence-based, intensive, and multidisciplinary treatment programmes, thereby improving productivity across the system. Over the last 5 years, we have consistently reduced length of stay within our mental health inpatient rehabilitation services, with 2025 showing a 40% reduction on length of stay compared with 2021.³

Focus on Recovery and Community Integration:

• 85% of adults accessing Cygnet specialist rehabilitation services in the last year have been able to be discharged towards the community.⁴

Investment in a Sustainable Mental Health Workforce

Achieving the Framework’s objectives requires a robust and well-supported workforce. Cygnet views its staff as its most valuable asset and is fully committed to the creation of a sustainable workforce:

Comprehensive Workforce Plan:

• Our comprehensive workforce plan focuses on staff development, training and retention. This includes extensive continuing professional development (CPD) and specialised training in areas such as trauma-informed care and suicide prevention, in line with national guidance like Staying Safe from Suicide, co-authored by Cygnet’s Group Medical Director, Dr Jon Van Niekerk.

Evidence of Staff Stability and Satisfaction:

• We are proud to demonstrate low agency usage across our services (down to 5.3% in 2025), which indicates a highly stable and dedicated permanent staff base.
• Our focus on creating a supportive and developmental culture of care has resulted in excellent retention rates  and consistently positive metrics for staff satisfaction.
• 79% of staff responded to our latest staff survey with 91% saying the care of service users is Cygnet’s top priority and 88% confirming they enjoy working for Cygnet. This stability is fundamental to providing continuous, high-quality, and productive patient care.

Cygnet looks forward to working in close partnership with the newly established national mental health leadership and local ICBs to deliver these critical improvements and meet the challenges and opportunities of delivering the highest standards of mental health care.

References

1. Data based on average days enquiry to admission to PICU/Acute services from 1/11/2024 – 17/11/2025

2. Referrals taken by the Cygnet bed hub between 1^st of May and 31^st of October

3. Average length of stay, 2025 range = 01/01/2025 – 31/10/2025

4. Discharges between 01/01/2025 – 31/20/2025 from Inpatient Secure, Eating Disorders, Neuropsychiatric, Personality Disorder, Learning Disability / Autism and Mental Health Rehabilitation and Recovery Services.

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