A short introduction to the challenges and opportunities facing local charities, social enterprises and user led-groups working in mental health in 2012.

The last two years have seen unprecedented changes to the policies and practices in the world of health, social care and local authorities, culminating in the passing of Health and Social Care Bill in March 2012.

These have not been cosmetic changes but deep revisions of the ways in which the NHS and local authorities regard mental health. These changes have arrived at the same time as the most protracted economic downturn for many years.

In these challenging times, small organisations and those working in partnership with them need to know what has changed, how it has changed and what challenges and opportunities these changes present for organisations that are making things happen for people with mental health difficulties.

Social Spider CIC directors Mark Brown, editor of One in Four, the national magazine by and for people with mental health difficulties, and David Floyd, writer of the leading social enterprise blog, Beanbags and Bullsh!t, will guide you through changes to the NHS and local authorities, the shift to localism, the possibilities and drawbacks of Big Society and the opportunities and challenges of delivering better mental health in a time of squeezed budgets.

Delivered as a three-hour seminar, attendees will have the opportunity to explore the implications of the current policy moment for small mental health organisations and examine new currents and possibilities for delivering mental health related services.

The seminar will assist small organisations in planning their responses to the changing landscape of the NHS and local authorities. It offers NHS and local authority employees an insight into the challenges faced by smaller groups - and ideas about how to form effective partnerships with them.

Total ticket cost (including fees and VAT) - £43.84

Mark Brown and David Floyd are the authors of Better Mental Health in a Bigger Society? (published by Mental Health Providers Forum in December 2011). 

A link to David Floyd's feature on the new Health and Social Care Act and its implications for social enterprises.