The NHS 10-Year Plan is an ambitious vision for transforming healthcare, with a strong focus on prevention, community-based care, and workforce development. It presents a critical opportunity to tackle long-standing challenges in mental health, from reducing waiting times to ensuring that people receive care in the right setting at the right time.
But the scale of this ambition requires more than just the NHS working alone. The independent sector has a crucial role to play in helping to expand capacity, innovate service delivery, and support the workforce—ensuring that together, we can build a mental health system that truly meets patient needs.
Moving Care Closer to Home: The Role of Step-Down Services
One of the biggest pressures on mental health services today is delayed discharges. Currently, one in ten adult acute mental health beds is occupied by someone clinically fit for discharge —but with nowhere to go due to a lack of supported housing or community services.
Independent providers already offer rehabilitation, supported living, and specialist community teams, which could be scaled up to help people transition safely out of hospital. By investing in step-down pathways, we can free up acute inpatient capacity and ensure that patients can continue their recovery in the least restrictive environment possible.
We must also acknowledge the imperative of treating the whole person, which includes parity between mental and physical health. This holistic approach means equipping individuals to be mentally and physically well, using innovative models of care in inpatient settings that can contribute to safer discharges and reduce the risk of relapse. Preventing the revolving door of readmission should be prioritised for the longer-term benefit to the individual, their loved ones and community, as well as the wider economic health benefits and societal impact of getting people back on their feet.
Another area where the independent sector can help is crisis care. Mental health patients are twice as likely as other patients to wait over 12 hours in A&E, often because there are no alternative crisis services available. Independent providers can reduce the strain and provide a safe space for those experiencing acute distress. Cygnet has a national network of more than 700 urgent admission beds, to meet the acute needs of adults requiring rapid access to mental health services, including those who may need an intensive care environment.
Leveraging independent provision can alleviate pressure in A&E departments whilst also preserving patient dignity in settings more suited to their mental health needs.
Prevention & Early Intervention: Expanding Access
We know that half of all mental illnesses begin before the age of 14, yet many young people struggle to access timely support. Waiting lists for specialist services, including CAMHS and eating disorder care, are unacceptably long.
Take eating disorders as an example. Only 3.6% of children and 1.3% of adults receive specialist treatment despite the need being considerably higher, with 800 awaiting urgent treatment and another 5000 on waiting lists for routine care—a stark gap in provision.
Independent providers have the expertise to support both early intervention and specialist inpatient care, yet current pathways don’t always allow for a joined-up approach. The NHS and independent sector must collaborate more closely to expand access and prevent escalation to crisis levels.
Where capital investment exists in the independent sector, there is an opportunity to work together to leverage the funding required to build for better mental health and provide specialist services.
Addressing the Workforce Challenge
The workforce crisis is the single biggest risk to delivering the 10-Year Plan. The latest figures show that 15.9% of consultant psychiatrist posts and 20.4% of SAS psychiatrist posts in the NHS are vacant—with true vacancy rates exceeding 29% when locum roles are included.
Independent providers can support the NHS workforce in several ways:
- Flexible career options – We offer flexible working opportunities, additional CPD time, and enhanced well-being support, which can help retain skilled psychiatrists and nurses who might otherwise leave the profession.
- Training partnerships – We already train non-consultant grade doctors, mental health nurses, and allied health professionals. By expanding joint training schemes with the NHS, we can help build a more sustainable workforce pipeline. Apprenticeship schemes are more commonplace in independent providers, offering health care workers the chance to continually progress on their career journey.
- International recruitment – While the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan includes a 93% increase in mental health nursing training places and a 26% increase in clinical psychology training by 2031/32, training takes time. Independent providers are already supporting international recruitment, which could be further aligned with NHS workforce planning.
At a time when staff burnout is at record levels—with 26.3% of all NHS sickness absence due to mental health conditions, resulting in 6.9 million lost workdays in a year—we must do more to support and retain mental health professionals. This means ensuring that well-being initiatives are properly funded and available across the entire mental health system, not just within the NHS.
The Digital Future of Mental Health
Technology has the potential to transform mental health care. AI and digital tools could reduce the administrative burden on clinicians, allowing them to spend more time with patients. For example, an autism assessment currently takes 13 hours per patient, with much of that spent on paperwork. AI-assisted processes could significantly streamline assessments, ensuring faster diagnoses and interventions.
However, before we talk about radical AI-driven solutions, we need to fix basic digital infrastructure. Many NHS mental health teams still struggle with outdated IT systems, and poor digital tools are a bigger stressor for staff than patient care itself. Investment in core IT infrastructure must come first, so that all mental health providers – NHS and independent – can work together seamlessly.
Building a Collaborative Mental Health System
To make the 10-Year Plan a success, we must shift from thinking about NHS mental health services in isolation to building a true mental health system. This means:
✔ Breaking down barriers between NHS and independent providers so that all available capacity is used efficiently.
✔ Creating seamless patient pathways from acute care to community rehabilitation and primary care.
✔ Investing in workforce retention and well-being, ensuring staff across all sectors are supported.
✔ Modernising digital infrastructure, so that technology improves care rather than adding extra burdens.
At Cygnet, we are committed to working alongside the NHS to make these ambitions a reality. By harnessing our collective expertise, capacity, and innovation, we can ensure that mental health services are accessible, high-quality, and sustainable for the future.
If you’re interested in discussing how the independent sector can support NHS mental health services, I’d love to hear from you. Let’s build a collaborative, patient-centred system that works for everyone.