The government has been urged not to miss a ‘golden opportunity’ to transform mental health services by extending funding for a pilot of six 24/7 neighbourhood centres.
A new Health and Social Care Committee report warns that the centres, which have shown success in recruiting mental health nurses, are at risk as the Department of Health and Social Care has not guaranteed funding beyond April 2026.
MPs visited the Barnsley Street centre in Tower Hamlets – the first of the six pilots to open, in July 2025 – where they were told that mental health nurses ‘have been overrecruited in the borough’, which staff attributed to the positive working environment and the opportunity to work in a model that ‘aligns with their values’.
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The centres, inspired by services in Trieste, Northern Italy, offer individualised care without the need for a referral, with multidisciplinary teams including nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers providing support with housing, employment, health and social issues. Initial data suggests reduced inpatient admissions and shorter stays.
The committee is calling for funding to be extended for at least a further 12 months to allow proper evaluation, with a view to eventually opening a centre in every community. The other five pilot sites are in Whitehaven (Cumbria), Acomb (York), Heeley (Sheffield), East of Birmingham and Lewisham (London).
The report also includes a specific recommendation demanding action on staff retention in community mental health services, after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) told the Health and Social Care Committee inquiry that the mental health nursing workforce in England faces crisis-level shortages.
According to the RCN, the vacancy rate among registered mental health nurses stands at 13.8% – the highest in the NHS – with staff reporting high stress due to increased workloads and growing demand.
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The committee suggests that, as part of the forthcoming 10-year workforce plan, the government should set out specific measures to reduce burnout and improve pay and progression opportunities, and ensure comprehensive training and continued professional development are available.
The report notes that the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published in June 2023, projected a shortfall of over 15,800 full-time equivalent mental health nurses by 2036-37 if current trends continued.
Layla Moran MP, Health and Social Care Committee chair, said: ‘This report lays bare how an overburdened, poorly designed system is failing too many people and their families. But there is hope.
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‘We urge the government to not shy away from reimagining this broken and fragmented system.’
In 2023-24 there were 664,412 adults with severe mental illnesses, such as bipolar or schizophrenia, accessing support from community mental health services in England. Between 2021 and 2023, over 130,000 premature deaths were recorded among this demographic.
