NHS trusts providing mental health and learning disability services have been playing a critical role, both to maintain services and to respond to the current environment alongside their colleagues in the acute, community ambulance and primary care sectors. While the main public, media and political focus has been on the impact of COVID-19 on hospitals, it is important to put the spotlight on what is happening in other parts of the NHS frontline. 

This briefing sets out the immediate challenge of COVID-19 for mental health trusts, how the sector has responded and what is needed to navigate the next phase.