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Cityscape Digital for Eric Parry Architects
From depression to dementia, brain and mental illnesses are some of the most pressing issues of our time. Three quarters of mental health problems emerge before the age of 24 and rates of child and adolescent mental health issues are growing. Nearly a million people currently have dementia, with that number expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040.
My research focuses on psychosis, where new treatments and therapies are desperately needed. People with severe mental illness die 15 years earlier on average, and there have been few new treatments developed since antipsychotics more than 50 years ago. As time goes on, the social and economic costs of this situation, not to mention the personal cost to patients and their families, continue to increase.
Research is absolutely critical to improving outcomes in brain and mental health care. Finding new treatments and approaches that work means that people get well more quickly, and return to their families, communities and jobs. This in turn reduces waiting lists and costs, and builds economic productivity and growth. However, the potential for progress is being held up by poor scientific facilities, a lack of funding and a lack of integration between cutting edge science and clinical practice, all of which we believe Warneford Park will help to change.
The potential for progress is being held up by poor scientific facilities, a lack of funding and a lack of integration between cutting edge science and clinical practice, all of which we believe Warneford Park will help to change.
Effective medications and therapies are being developed for the first time in decades, with renewed interest from pharmaceutical companies and industry. Exciting new digital therapies offer cost-effective treatment options and improve ways of working. The University of Oxford is at the forefront of this work.
In children and adolescents, we're developing, testing and rolling out effective and scalable new therapies and improving ways of supporting young people. These include the Online Support and Intervention for Child Anxiety (OSI) tool, which was recommended by NICE for use in the NHS. OSI has been shown to have similar results as standard cognitive behavioural therapy but required half as much therapists’ time to deliver.
In adults, we’re using innovative techniques and artificial intelligence to help diagnose and find the best treatments for serious mental illnesses such as psychosis and depression. The recent completion of the PAX-D trial demonstrated an effective new treatment for depression in pramipexole, a drug already used for Parkinson’s Disease.
In older adults and those affected by dementias, we’re using the latest scientific evidence and technology to speed up our ability to prevent, diagnose and treat conditions. The Oxford Brain Health Clinic has just celebrated its five year anniversary and 500 patients going through its doors. Dedicated to improving the assessment and diagnosis of memory problems, it uses cutting edge technology to offer detailed dementia assessments not usually available in routine NHS care. It has resulted in more accurate dementia diagnoses, identified potential risk factors in patients so they can make lifestyle changes, and, crucially, saves NHS doctors’ time.
But infrastructure is aging, holding back advances in the field. The current mental health estate is wholly inadequate. In Oxford we are based in a Georgian hospital – the oldest remaining mental health hospital building in continuous use for that purpose in the UK. This is not fit for purpose for providing 21st century mental health care, nor the best environment for research.
Alongside Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and a local benefactor, we are proposing a redevelopment of the Warneford Hospital site, to include a new, purpose-built hospital and linked medical research and innovation building - bringing researchers, patients and clinicians together to deliver world-leading, impactful science in a modern campus that is fit for the future and the challenges we face.
There would also be a new post-graduate college for the University of Oxford focused on medical sciences, bio-engineering and related disciplines, which will attract graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who will enrich research and innovation at Warneford Park. The College and its facilities aspire to become the social and intellectual heart of Oxford University’s world class Medical Sciences Division and will give the Grade II listed historic Warneford Hospital building a new lease of life.
Bringing together science and clinical care on one site will see the benefits from mental health research translated directly into clinical practice
After a period of public consultation, these plans have now been submitted to Oxford City Council. Bringing together science and clinical care on one site will see the benefits from mental health research translated directly into clinical practice, delivered by top class specialists focused on preventing, diagnosing, and treating mental illness early.
Our powerful research capability and knowledge, alongside modern facilities for brain scanning, laboratories and clinical trials, will supercharge our understanding of, and the development of new treatments for, a wide range of medical conditions – with a particular focus on the brain and mental health - that affect so many people, from young children to older adults. This is a hugely exciting opportunity and, if approved and funded, could be the critical turning point for brain and mental health research that could transform outcomes for so many patients and their families.
Professor Belinda Lennox is Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford.