The report aims to encourage the integration of mental health promotion and prevention into general practice to reduce the burden of mental and physical disorders and the ensuing pressure on general practice. The rationale for this is that mental health promotion and prevention are too important to wait.

There is strong evidence for the value of mental health promotion and prevention to improve human, social and economic capital. The case for systematic attention to the implementation of mental health promotion and prevention is made by the magnitude of the global burden of mental disorder and the importance of its prevention; the current evolution of the role of clinical commissioning groups; the timely focus in the NHS’s Five Year Forward View (2015-2020) policy on improving health and wellbeing, health promotion and prevention, and on developing a closer relationship between primary care and the community.

We therefore propose 1, 2 overarching messages to enable and support this process.

The core principles underpinning both this brief report and the wider think tank report on which it is based include the WHO definitions of health and mental health, the public health framework for health promotion and prevention, the need for parity (equality of time, energy, resources and commissioning expertise) between mental and physical health, and the value of a biopsychosocial approach to health.

The twelve messages to achieve improved mentalhealth for all and to save lives:

1. Mental health promotion and prevention are too important to wait
2. Work with your community to map risk factors, resources and assets
3. Good health care, medicine and best practice are biopsychosocial rather than purely physical
4. Integrate mental health promotion and prevention into your daily work
5. Boost resilience in your community through approaches such as community development
6. Identify people at increased risk of mental disorder for support and screening.
7. Support early intervention for people of all ages with signs of illness
8. Maintain your biopsychosocial skills
9. Ensure good communication, interdisciplinary team working and intersectoral working with other staff, teams and agencies
10. Lead by example, taking action to promote the resilience of the general practice workforce
11. Ensure mental health is appropriately included in the strategic agenda for your cluster, at the Clinical Commissioning Groups, and the Health and Wellbeing Board
12. Be aware of national mental health strategies and localise them, including action to destigmatise mental illness within the context of community development.