Dr Lade Smith CBE,
Current President of the RCPsych,
Former Clinical and Strategic
Director of the NCCMH
Dr Lade Smith, CBE, former Clinical and Strategic Director of the NCCMH and 134th President of the RCPsych is delighted to introduce the work of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH), which is a collaboration between the Royal College of Psychiatrists and University College London.
Over more than 20 years the NCCMH has forged an excellent reputation for developing evidence-based guidance, pathways, competence frameworks and quality improvement (QI) collaboratives.
They are led by internationally renowned clinical leaders, and has well-established links and relationships with NHS England and Improvement, the National Institute for Health and Care Effectiveness (NICE), the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and mental health providers and service users across the UK.
At the heart of all the NCCMH's work is a desire to improve mental health services for people and to ensure equitable access. Therefore people with lived experience of mental health problems are a central part of every stage of their processes, as are clinical leaders and front line staff. This means that the work is grounded in the reality of the people who use and provide mental health services and is underpinned by a drive to address health inequality.
The NCCMH works from the evidence base up. They developed NICE guidelines for 15 years and now are involved in the implementation of high-quality evidence.
Professor Steve Pilling, Academic and Strategic Director
They work at the service-level to reconceptualise what mental health services look like, by designing pathways and developing guidance
They ensure that the workforce is skilled by developing competence frameworks and curricula
They evaluate new services, training packages and interventions
They support professionals to improve mental health service delivery using a QI approach to ensure sustainable change
They help other countries to adapt or develop evidence-based guidance (including, most recently, Ukraine).
In March 2022 the Public Mental Health Implementation Centre, which is hosted by the NCCMH, was launched in the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. This marks an exciting new chapter for the NCCMH and the College.
The NCCMH are proud to work with a wide range of partners to improve mental health care nationally and internationally and look forward to working with you.
Professor Tim Kendall, International Clinical and Strategic Director
Professor Russell Razzaque, Clinical and Strategic Director
