Mental Health in Crisis: Scaling Services for a Growing Need

As demand for mental health services continues to surge, the NHS faces a dual challenge: expanding capacity while protecting the wellbeing of the very workforce delivering care. From CAMHS to crisis teams, staff are navigating rising caseloads, emotional intensity, and systemic strain—often without the support or resources they need.

This panel brings together NHS leaders, workforce planners, mental health professionals, and union representatives to explore how we can grow services without sacrificing the people behind them. We’ll examine:

• The impact of burnout, retention issues, and workforce shortages on service delivery
• Strategies for recruitment, training, and career development in mental health roles
• How digital tools, flexible models, and integrated care can ease pressure on staff
• The importance of psychological safety, supervision, and wellbeing support across teams

This is a conversation about scaling with care—because sustainable growth starts with a healthy workforce. Join us to explore how the NHS can expand mental health services in ways that are resilient, compassionate, and fit for the future.

Mental health is no longer a peripheral concern—it’s a central pillar of public health. Yet despite growing demand and political recognition, funding for mental health services remains fragmented, reactive, and often insufficient. To build a system that’s resilient, equitable, and fit for the future, we need investment models that go beyond short-term fixes.

This panel brings together NHS finance leaders, commissioners, policy experts, and third-sector partners to explore how we can rethink the economics of mental health care. We’ll examine:

• Current funding challenges across acute, community, and preventative services
• Innovative approaches to commissioning, pooled budgets, and outcome-based investment
• The role of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in aligning priorities and resources
• How to make the case for mental health as a long-term value driver—not just a cost centre

This is a conversation about sustainability, strategy, and systemic change. Join us to explore how the NHS can secure the future of mental health services through smarter, fairer, and more forward-thinking investment.

When mental health crises escalate, hospital admission is often seen as the default response. But for many individuals, it’s not the most therapeutic—or the most effective—option. Across the NHS, there is growing recognition that community-based crisis care can offer faster, more compassionate, and more person-centred support.

This panel brings together NHS mental health leaders, crisis team clinicians, voluntary sector partners, and people with lived experience to explore how we can shift the response to crisis from containment to care. We’ll examine:

• Proven models of community-based crisis response, including crisis houses, safe havens, and home treatment teams
• The role of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in coordinating local alternatives to A&E and inpatient care
• Challenges around workforce, funding, and 24/7 accessibility
• How to embed co-production, trauma-informed practice, and cultural competence in crisis services

This is a conversation about dignity, choice, and system change. Join us to explore how the NHS can scale up community-based crisis care—and offer people in distress the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

Health doesn’t begin in hospitals—and it doesn’t end with a prescription. Safe housing, social support, and community connection are just as vital to wellbeing as clinical care. Yet too often, services remain siloed, with fragmented systems and funding streams creating barriers instead of bridges.

This panel brings together NHS leaders, local authority partners, housing providers, and social care professionals to explore how integrated, place-based collaboration can deliver more holistic and effective support. We’ll examine:

• The role of housing in preventing hospital admissions and supporting recovery
• How Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) can align priorities across sectors
• Challenges around data sharing, governance, and joint commissioning
• Real-world examples of cross-sector models that are improving outcomes and reducing pressure on acute services

This is a conversation about connection—between services, sectors, and the people they serve. Join us to explore how the NHS can lead and learn in building a truly joined-up system of care.