The government has today unveiled a white paper, titled Integration and Innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all, which signals change in health and social care for the NHS.

Here's our response to the government white paper.

Mark Winstanley, CEO Rethink Mental Illness, said:

“Any movement towards greater integration of the health and social care services that support people in the community is positive because it reflects the complexity of people’s lives - supporting someone’s wider needs around money, housing and isolation rather than just treating their condition could help them live happily, independently and stay out of hospital.

“However, that’s an upside that can only be achieved with investment and reform in local authority social care and public health budgets – otherwise it could simply pass the buck on a social care system which remains desperately in need of help. That reform has to involve genuine and appropriate focus on people severely affected by mental illness and we best get there through an open and transparent consultation process. That way, we hopefully end up with greater investment, collaboration and resource in frontline community services and the voluntary sector rather than hefty contracts to the private sector, which simply takes more money out of the system.”