The Measure will make sure that more services are available for your GP to send you to if you have mental health problems such as anxiety or depression. These services, which may include, for example, counselling, stress and anxiety management, will either be at your GP practice or nearby so it will be easier to get to them.

This Part of the Measure requires Local Health Boards and Local Authorities to work together to establish Local Primary Mental Health Support Services across Wales. You can access information about Part 1 from Welsh Government here.

You will also be told about other services which might help you, such as those provided by groups such as local voluntary groups or advice about money or housing.

From 1 October 2012 your GP can support you to access new services which will be available locally to help people with mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, memory loss, and behavioural and emotional difficulties.

You can download a poster about this here.

Find out more about getting help from your GP here.

Some people have mental health problems which require more specialised care and support, (sometimes provided in hospital). If you are receiving these services then your care and treatment will be overseen by a professional such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse or social worker.

These people will be called Care Coordinators and will write you a care and treatment plan – working with you as much as possible. This plan will set out the goals you are working towards and the services that will be provided by the NHS and the local authority to help you reach them. This plan must be reviewed with you at least once a year.

Part 2 of the Measure places duties on Local Health Boards and Local Authorities in Wales to work together. You can access more information about Part 2 from Welsh Government here.

Wales Mental Health in Primary Care (WaMH in PC) has made a series of short videos to help primary care staff across Wales to understand Part 1 of the Mental Health Measure.

Training resources

The Welsh Government has prepared some training resources to help anyone to increase their understanding of the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010.

They have been developed in partnership between the Welsh Government, service users, carers, third sector organisations, Health Boards and Local Authorities.

They include topics such as an overview of the Mental Health (Wales) Measure, what service users want from care and treatment planning, the role of care co-ordinators and the requirements of Care and Treatment plans.

You can read a Hafal guide to the Mental Health (Wales) Measure.

You can link to 10 interesting facts about the Mental Health Measure.

If you have any questions about the Mental Health Measure and what it means for you then you can contact:
mentalhealthandvulnerablegroups@wales.gsi.gov.uk or telephone 02920 370 011

If you have some information about the measure that you would like to share on this page then please get in touch with mentalhealth@pavo.org.uk or call the team 01686 628300.

Mental Health Measure 2010 Welsh Government Review 2014 – 15

Together for Mental Health sets out the Welsh Government’s ambitions for improving mental health and its vision for 21st century mental health services.

The Mental Health Measure 2010 is a unique piece of legislation which provides a legal framework for improving mental health services in Wales.

Section 48 of the Measure placed a duty on the Welsh Ministers to review the operation of the Measure within four years of commencement.

The ‘Duty to Review’ Report has now been published and is available here.

Post-legislative scrutiny of the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010

The National Assembly for Wales’s Health and Social Care Committee undertook post-legislative scrutiny in 2014 to assess the implementation and operation of the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010, in particular by:

• assessing the extent to which the stated objectives of the Measure are being achieved;
• identifying whether there are any lessons which can be learned or good practice shared from the making and implementation of the Measure and the associated subordinate legislation and guidance;
• assessing whether the Measure has represented, and will continue to represent, value for money.

The committee published its report in January 2015, containing 10 recommendations, which you can read here.

The Welsh Government responded to the report’s recommendations in February 2015, and you can read the response here.

There was a Welsh Assembly debate on the recommendations on 4 March 2015. You can read the record of proceedings (start at 15.09) here.

The Active Offer is one of the key principles of ‘More than just words…’, a strategic framework designed for health, social services and social care that was issued by the Welsh Government to support Welsh services in these fields.