Overview
Fixing Futures is a national review led by the Healthy Brains Global Initiative (HBGI) and supported by Bridges Outcomes Partnerships. Its aim is to understand how children and young people’s mental health services work in the UK and identify practical ways to help them work better. The focus is on improving how services are organised, how young people move through them, and how clearly outcomes are defined and used – so that more young people get timely, meaningful support within existing resources.
By engaging commissioners, providers, local authorities, voluntary organisations, and young people themselves, the review will build a clear picture of what is working well, where pressures are greatest, and where small operational changes could unlock significant improvements. The review will culminate in a series of pilots to test the opportunities identified.
Our Approach
The 15-month review will combine analysis, stakeholder engagement, and performance management expertise, with a strong emphasis on hearing directly from children and young people with lived experience. Their insights will shape every stage of the work—from defining what good support looks like to identifying where services need to improve. Activities include:
- Journey mapping: creating composite examples of typical service journeys to identify delays, duplication, and missed opportunities.
- National heat map: highlighting where services are strong and where they are under strain across the UK.
- Outcomes work: understanding what outcomes matter most to young people and comparing this with current performance measures.
- Deep dives: taking a closer look at six priority service areas to understand how they operate and where improvements could be made.
- Operational recommendations: developing clear, practical steps to improve service flow, performance, and outcomes.
Pilots
At the end of the review, we will work with local commissioners and other partners to design and launch performance-managed pilot projects –demonstrating how improved operations and clearer outcome measures can increase efficiency and strengthen support for young people. These pilots will act as proofs of concept that can be scaled across the system.
This project is running through to December 2026.
