Seven new clinics focused on treating patients with hard-to-treat depression will soon open across the UK, thanks to a £18 million investment from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Office for Life Sciences. The new clinics, which are part of the Mental Health Goals programme, will build upon the work of an Oxford-based research clinic and aim to improve clinical assessments and treatment options for individuals suffering from difficult-to-treat depression.
The new facilities will be established in Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, north London, and Sheffield, expanding access to specialized care for mood disorders. These clinics will also serve as hubs for research and the development of new treatments.
This initiative follows the success of the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre’s Treatment Resistant Depression Clinic, part of an existing network of research clinics that collaborate with world-leading experts in depression. The network’s primary focus is on advancing the understanding and treatment of mood disorders through innovative therapies and interventions.
Professor Michael Browning, co-lead of the Mood Disorders workstream and Professor of Computational Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, expressed his enthusiasm about the project. “It is an exciting time in the treatment of mood disorders, with several new interventions, including medications, therapies, and neurostimulation techniques, being developed,” he said. “This additional funding will allow us to assess these treatments more rapidly, helping patients access them sooner.”
In some parts of the UK, patients currently lack access to mood disorder clinics, and the new locations aim to address this gap. The expanded network will help improve regional access to clinical support and research-driven treatments.
Professor Rachel Upthegrove, Chair of the NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration and Director of the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, highlighted the significance of the initiative. “The expansion of these centres of excellence, along with the establishment of new clinics in underserved areas, will provide more people with access to detailed assessments and innovative treatments,” she said. “This investment will enhance research, create more representative data, and potentially uncover new ways to manage serious mood disorders.”
The new clinics will be established in partnership with several NHS trusts, including Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, National Centre for Mental Health, The Royal Edinburgh Hospital, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, North London Mental Health Partnership, and Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust. These partnerships will play a key role in offering both clinical care and research opportunities to a wider population.
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