Care Programme Approach

What do you think?

The Care Programme Approach (CPA) was introduced in 1990 to assess and arrange health and social care needs for people with severe mental health needs. The 2006 Mental Health National Patient Survey showed that only about half (58 per cent) of service users definitely understood their care plan. A quarter of service users reported not being involved in their care plan. Service users expressed concern about the lack of attention to social care needs and the emphasis on risk, not recovery.

What are the new proposals?

The Department of Health (DoH) are currently reviewing the CPA and asking for people's opinions. Amongst the new proposals are:

• There will only be one level of the CPA- at the moment there is 'standard' and 'enhanced'.
• The system of coordination of care and support for service users currently defined as 'standard' will be for local determination, guided by the CPA values and principles.
• The definition of who should be on the CPA in the future will be clarified and only support those with the highest care coordination and most complex needs.
• National competencies will be identified for the role of the care coordinator (at present there is no formal national training programme for mental health care coordinators).
• Services should review CPA procedures to ensure pathway approaches to the CPA and improved continuity of care.

We would like to hear about your views and experiences. You can find out more about the consultation and review on the DoH website or email your comments to anita.ralli@tvu.ac.uk by the 9th February 2007.