The International Mental Health Benchmarking Project
2026 Project
Data collection for the 2026 international benchmarking programme is now complete, with a draft report due ahead of the Global Leadership Exchange (GLE) Match in Ottawa in June 2026. The programme brought together participation from nine countries: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and Wales. While additional countries expressed interest in taking part, funding constraints limited wider participation.
We are pleased that Emma Bamber, Customer Success & Growth Director and Joe Donnelly, Senior Solutions & Partnerships Manager, will represent the NHS Benchmarking Network at the GLE Match and conference in Ottawa from 1–5 June 2026. The event brings together international leaders, practitioners and experts to share learning and explore innovative approaches to mental health and substance use services.
Emma and Joe will present findings from the international benchmarking initiative, highlighting how different national systems support mental health care and identifying opportunities for improvement and collaboration. The project explored areas including demand and capacity, workforce design, early intervention and outcomes measurement, providing valuable insight into effective models of care across participating countries.
The findings will contribute to wider discussions at the conference on strengthening mental health and substance use services globally, while also supporting greater international participation in future benchmarking work.
What does the dataset include?
This data collection forms part of the International Mental Health Benchmarking Network 2026, bringing together countries to better understand, compare, and improve mental health services worldwide. It provides a baseline for capturing how mental health care is funded, organised, delivered, and experienced across different systems. Work to strengthen these measures to support wider collaboration is at the core of the aims of the work, and as such the data should be interpreted with caution given to the varying models across healthcare systems.
At its core, the dataset looks at the full mental health journey. It begins with national context, including population coverage and overall spending on mental health relative to wider healthcare budgets. This helps to highlight how countries prioritise mental health within their systems.
The collection then explores how services are structured. It captures the range of support available, from community teams and crisis services through to inpatient care, as well as specialist services such as perinatal, forensic, and dementia care. It also considers national policies, targets, and quality frameworks that shape how care is delivered.
Access to care is a key focus. Countries provide data on how many people use services, how long they wait, and how care is delivered (including digital options). Inpatient and community services are examined in detail, including activity levels, capacity, and workforce.
Importantly, the dataset goes beyond clinical care. It includes wider factors such as housing and employment, recognising their impact on mental health and recovery. Workforce information is also captured to understand the people delivering care across different roles.
Finally, the collection examines outcomes and experience, including whether people improve with treatment and how they feel about the care they receive. It also highlights how service users’ voices are included in shaping services.
Overall, this dataset provides a rounded picture of mental health systems, helping countries learn from each other and identify practical ways to improve care and outcomes globally.
A Brief History
Since 2016, 15 countries have taken part in one or more of the international benchmarking project cycles as part of the bi-annual leadership exchange. The project has been delivered in partnership with the Global Leadership Exchange. There have been three previous cycles of this project: 2016, 2019 and 2022.
Participating countries in the NHS Benchmarking Network International Mental Health Project (2016-2022):
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Australia
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Belgium
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Canada
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Czechia
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England
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Japan
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Netherlands
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New Zealand
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Northern Ireland
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Norway
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Republic of Ireland
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Scotland
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Sweden
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Switzerland
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United States of America
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Wales
In 2024, the NHS Benchmarking Network and GLE agreed to pause the international mental health project. This was an opportunity to reassess interest, review the focus and impact of the project and create a sustainable model of delivery.
An event chaired by NHS England, GLE and NHSBN where best practice speakers shared service transformation developments designed to meet changing care needs.
Children and young people's mental health services: Sharing international models of care