Mental health rehabilitation services focus on people with particularly complex mental health needs. They comprise a whole system of inpatient and community-based components provided by the NHS, Independent Sector, social care and voluntary sectors. NICE guidance recommends that the different components should be organised into local care pathways, with the exact complement of components tailored to local population needs, but the complexity of the current system can make this challenging. Around half of the 3500 inpatient mental health rehabilitation beds in England are provided by the NHS and half by the Independent Sector. The Care Quality Commission has been highly critical of the Independent Sector’s rehabilitation services, as people are often many miles from home and the length of stay is twice that of NHS inpatient mental health rehabilitation units. However, until recently, there had been no research investigating the two sectors and whether specific factors, such as differences in the characteristics of patients might explain the CQC’s findings. The ACER study (Assessing the Clinical and Cost Effectiveness of Inpatient Mental Health Rehabilitation Services provided by the NHS and Independent Sector) is a five-year national research programme in England, funded by the Health Services Delivery Research programme of the National Institute of Health Research. The study started in 2021 and comprises five components investigating differences between the two sectors in terms of: patient characteristics; service quality; patient, carer and staff experiences; clinical effectiveness; and cost effectiveness.
This session will include presentation of the final results from the ACER study and reflections on their implications from two UK leaders working in the NHS and Independent Sector.
Learning objectives
In this webinar you will:
• learn about the final findings from the NIHR funded national research programme (the ACER Study) comparing inpatient mental health rehabilitation provided by the NHS and Independent Sector in England
• hear the latest updates and insights from NHSE's lead for the national QI programme 'Getting it Right First Time for Mental Health Rehabilitation' on how to improve acute and rehabilitation services and address obstacles to the delivery of local rehabilitative care
• hear from a UK mental health leader working in the Independent Sector on how the findings of the ACER study can help improve the current system for people with more complex mental health problems.
Speakers
Chair: Dr Andrew Molodynski, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford
Professor Helen Killaspy, University College London, London
Dr Sridevi Kalidindi, South London and Maudsely NHS Foundation Trust, London
Dr Jon van Niekerk, Cygnet Healthcare, London
Funding
RCPsych International Congress is financially supported by the purchase of exhibition stand packages. A full list of confirmed exhibitors can be found here: Exhibiting Organisations at International Congress 2026
Availability
This webinar is part of the Congress webinar 2026 package. If you attended all four days of Congress, you will have access to these as part of your Congress package. Otherwise the Congress webinar 2026 package can be purchased below.
