Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 January 2013
Over the next year there will be a major change in the way mental health services are funded within the UK. Block contracts will be dismantled and the future will be populated by clusters of patients along pathways that are costed for and agreed upon locally between commissioners (who will pay for the pathway) and service providers (who will deliver what is specified within the agreed pathway) (Department of Health, 2011). However, will these pathways lead to gold or be muddied by confusion within a maze of complexity due to variations of ill defined care? This paper highlights potential difficulties with the proposed arrangements and gives possible solutions.