Mental Health Network Annual Conference and Exhibition 2025
Join us in Leeds as we unite leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the mental health sector.
Speakers
Our 2025 Mental Health Network Annual Conference and Exhibition will bring together senior leaders from the mental health, learning disability and autism sector for lively discussions on the future of services, to share good practice, horizon scan, and network with your peers.
The 10-Year Health Plan and long-awaited Mental Health Act reforms herald a decade long opportunity to drive improvements in mental health and learning disability services. The conference will also focus on some of the key themes that are most important to members and that can help enable the government’s three shifts to prevention, community and digital.
Programme and agenda
The day will run from 8:30am to 4:30pm.
Please note that details of speakers are provisional and may change in the event of circumstances outside of our control. In the event that a speaker is no longer available to attend we will ensure alternative arrangements are made.
8:30–9:20am - Breakfast session
9:00–9:30am - Registration, networking and exhibition
9:30–9:40am - Chair's and Vice Chair's Welcome
- Ifti Majid – Chair, Mental Health Network and Chief Executive, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Marsha McAdam – Peer Ambassador and Vice-Chair, Mental Health Network
9:40–10:40am - Panel Discussion: What does the 10-Year Plan mean for mental health and learning disabilities?
The government has carried out a major consultation to inform an NHS 10-Year Plan, which will outline the direction of the NHS for the next decade.
This panel session is an opportunity to:
- Hear about the progress in developing the plan
- Learn what it is expected to mean for the mental health, learning disabilities, and neurodiversity sector
- Hear NHS, lived-experience and VCSE perspectives on the plan, and pose questions to the panel
Speakers:
Dr Ify Okocha – Chief Executive, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust (Session Chair)
Sally Warren – Director General for the 10-Year Plan, DHSC
Lord Victor Adebowale – Chair, NHS Confederation
Marsha McAdam – Peer Ambassador and Vice-Chair, Mental Health Network
10:40–11:00am - Refreshments, Exhibition and Networking
11:00–11:10am - Mental Health Network Director's Address
- Rebecca Gray – Director, Mental Health Network
11:10–11:45am - Morning Keynote Address
Our keynote speaker will deliver the first keynote session of the day, followed by a Q&A.
- Speaker to be confirmed
- Ifti Majid – Chair, Mental Health Network (Session Chair)
11:45am–12:45pm - Panel discussion: Transforming care in community mental health services
The government shift focusing on hospital to community is an opportunity to increase the focus on community mental health services. The new 24/7 pilots will build on previous transformation, and support and keep people well and out of hospital.
This panel is an opportunity to:
- Understand the community mental health service provision landscape.
- Explore the future of community mental health service provision by learning from best practice case studies.
- Discuss key concerns and challenges and find solutions to overcome these challenges locally
Speakers:
- Phillipa Mariani – CEO, Think Ahead (Session Chair)
- Claire Murdoch – National Mental Health Director, NHS England,
- Dr Fabida Aria – Medical Director, Birmingham & Solihull NHS Mental Health Foundation Trust
- Haris Sultan – ICB experience and lived-experience representative
12:45–1:45pm - Lunch, Exhibition and Networking
1:45–2:45pm - Breakout sessions (choice of three)
1. A healthy start: lessons in early intervention and prevention for children and young people
Prevention is our greatest tool when it comes to children and young people, whether that is in the form of in-school intervention, VCSE-led open access services or system-level integration. Supporting children and young people’s wellbeing will help them live happier lives, while also reducing long-term demand on the NHS. The national focus on prevention provides an opportunity to further this agenda.
Attendees will:
- Gain insight around in-school interventions that prevent increases in acuity
- Learn about outcomes and good practices from early access hubs, keeping care in the community
- Hear what the role is of ICSs in driving the shift to prevention
- Join discussions on the opportunities and challenges in providing this support
Speakers:
- Laura Earnshaw – Chief Executive and Founder, My Happy Mind
- Monique Collier – Chief Executive, Young Person’s Advisory Service
- Elliot Busari – Young Change Maker
2. Supporting members to reduce out-of-area placements
Reducing out of area placements (OAPs) improves patient outcomes and has a beneficial impact on budgets as money is used more effectively. Our joint project with the Royal College of Psychiatrists has identified solutions members have implemented to reduce OAPs, including approaches taken by NHS, social care and third sector providers and commissioners.
Attendees will:
- Hear practical examples of initiatives that have successfully reduced OAPs
- Come away with a broader understanding of the roles that clinicians, providers, systems and national leaders must take to eliminate OAPs
- Be provided with the opportunity to discuss the key challenges in their local area and problem solve with their peers
Speakers:
- Helen Crump – Director, Cogency Analysis & Research (Session Chair)
- Dominic Hardisty – Chief Executive, Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
- Dr Mayura Deshpande, Consultant in Forensic Psychiatry, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Zoe Mitchell – Mental Health Network Lived-Experience Board Representative
3. Helping people with a learning disability and autistic people to move from hospital to community
Care closer to home is one of the government’s key shifts and it is essential that people with a learning disability and autistic people are included in this. Successful implementation of the new Mental Health Bill also depends upon building up community provision - but how can services help make this happen? We will hear from a person with lived experience about the importance of this shift and from a VCSE and an independent sector organisation who are working with the NHS about how they are helping make this shift a reality.
Attendees will hear:
- How partnership working can drive the shift from hospital to community
- What are the practical and structural barriers to accessing community-based care, and what are the levers to overcome them
- What the new Mental Health Bill may mean for people with a learning disability and autistic people
Speakers:
- Jane Padmore – Chief Executive, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, lived-experience representative (Session Chair)
- David Wilmott – Chief Medical Officer, Cygnet Healthcare
- Mel Shad – Director of Operations & Business Development, Choice Support
- ZeZe Sohawon – Youth Mental Health Lived Experience Practitioner and CEO, Emotion Dysregulation in Autism
2:45–3:05pm - Refreshments, Exhibition and Networking
3:05–3:50pm - Collaborating on digital transformation to improve patient care and outcomes
Digital technologies, platforms and applications are a reality within the delivery of mental health care pathways in England, and have an important role to play in improving the mental health of the population and the delivery of health services. This interactive session will provide space for leaders and experts from across the statutory, voluntary and independent mental health sector to reflect on progress made and what will be needed to support the shift from analogue to digital in the ten year health plan.
Attendees will:
Engage in the ten year health plan’s shift from analogue to digital and what it means for mental health services
Reflect and build shared approaches for embedding clinical leadership and patient experience in the delivery of the plan for mental health services
Share learning and reflections about what will enable or hold back the ten year plan in the context of digital mental health, and how we can work together to overcome these to ensure success
Speakers:
- Rebecca Gray – Director, Mental Health Network (Session chair)
- Prof Chris Hollis – Director, Mind Tech
- Ayesha Rahim – Clinical Lead for Digital Mental Health, NHS England
- Pritesh Mistry – Fellow (Digital Technologies), The King's Fund
3:50–4:25pm - Afternoon Keynote Address
Baroness Merron was appointed Minister for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health in July 2024. Baroness Merron will outline what the new Mental Health Bill means for the sector, and how a cross-government approach can reduce demand for the NHS and support economic growth.
Speakers:
Baroness Merron – Minister for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health
Lord Victor Adebowale – Chair, NHS Confederation (Session Chair)
4:25–4:30pm - Closing Reflections
Ticket information
Our conference was fully booked the last two years and places are limited.
- Mental Health Network Member - £170 + VAT
- NHS Confederation Member - £170 + VAT
- NHS Organisation, Not for Profit, Charity - £356 + VAT
- Commercial Organisation - £799 + VAT
Please click here to book your place using a payment card, or email our events team for an invoice.
In addition to the conference itself, we will also be hosting a dinner the night before the conference which is exclusively for Mental Health Network members at a rate of £79 + VAT.
Our speaker for the dinner will be Greg Fell, director of public health (DPH) for Sheffield, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) and the public health expert member of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).
