MANTRA training developed at SLaM to be rolled out to adult eating disorder services across the UK

Adult eating disorder services across the country will soon benefit from training on the Maudsley Model of Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adults (MANTRA). MANTRA is a structured individual psychotherapy with integrated carer support for adults with anorexia nervosa, and is one of three NICE-recommended therapies to be used as a first-line treatment for anorexia nervosa.

It was co-developed by Professors Ulrike Schmidt and Janet Treasure at King’s College London, with support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre.

The training programme is aimed at qualified practitioners with a core mental health profession (such as psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, mental health nurses, allied health professionals and social workers) who work in specialist adult or all-age eating disorder services. Collaboration with service users and carers features throughout the programme, from the training design and delivery, through to evaluation and quality assurance.

Maudsley Learning and IoPPN to co-deliver the training

Training will be delivered in partnership by Maudsley Learning at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London. The partners were awarded a three-year contract worth £471k, to design and deliver the MANTRA training programme to experienced clinicians across the country.

The contract, which has been awarded by Health Education England (HEE), responds to the need to upskill experienced clinicians to improve care for those who use eating disorder services. It will ensure patients  can benefit from evidenced-based interventions in line with the MANTRA curriculum and competencies.

“MANTRA is a highly effective treatment, and our patients like it”

Ulrike Schmidt, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Eating Disorders Service at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Professor of Eating Disorders at King's College London, said: “MANTRA is a highly effective treatment, and our patients like it. As developers of this treatment, we have been inundated with requests for training and are thrilled that we will now be able to respond to these requests by training therapists from all adult eating disorder teams in England. Ultimately, this means that patients will be able to choose from different treatment options suited to their needs.”

Professor Janet Treasure, Clinical and Academic Psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, said: “MANTRA has developed as part of an organic process, by which patients and carers have continued to contribute to the co-design and shaped the materials. This course will give health professionals both the core foundational elements and will also illustrate how new evidence can be integrated creatively”. 

Drawing on expertise in eating disorders across SLaM and IoPPN

This successful award demonstrates the unparalleled expertise in the field of eating disorders at the Trust and the IoPPN, bringing together clinical and academic excellence. The Trust’s award-winning Maudsley Learning team will be working closely with clinical academics to deliver this project and bring together their expertise in high quality workforce development and training programmes.

Training delivery will begin in March 2022 with a cohort of 45 trainees from NHS services across England. Subsequent training deliveries will train up to 90 healthcare professionals each year.

More information about the programme is available here: https://maudsleylearning.com/courses/mantra-training-programme/

If you are a Service Lead or professional working in eating disorders services in England, please direct interest and enquiries about the programme to MANTRA4NHS@slam.nhs.uk.