Seven new clinics dedicated to supporting people with hard-to-treat depression will be set up across the UK, building on the work of an Oxford research clinic.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Office for Life Sciences have invested £18 million into these clinics.

This is part of the Mental Health Goals programme, delivered by the NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration Mood Disorders workstream.

The new clinics will provide clinical assessments and new treatments for patients with difficult-to-treat depression.

They will be located in Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, north London, and Sheffield.

They build on an existing network of research clinics which includes Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre’s Treatment Resistant Depression Clinic.

These clinics work with world-leading researchers on depression.

Professor Michael Browning, the Mood Disorders workstream co-lead and Professor of Computational Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, said: "It is an exciting time in the treatment of mood disorders as there are several new interventions being developed.

"This includes new types of medication, therapy, and neurostimulation techniques.

"This additional funding will allow us to assess these new treatments quickly and reduce the time it takes for patients to access them.

"In some areas in the UK, there are currently no opportunities for patients to access mood disorder clinics.

"The locations of the new clinics will seek to redress this imbalance."

The Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, led by Professor Rachel Upthegrove, is based at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Upthegrove, chair of the NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration and director of the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, said: "The expansion of existing centres of excellence in treating people with mood disorders, and the establishment of the new centres in areas where there has previously been little support, will mean there are more opportunities for people to access detailed assessments and potentially new treatments through participation in research.

"The funding also means that more people will have the opportunity to take part - this improves the research, makes results more representative, and can improve treatment options by uncovering new ways of managing serious illnesses.

"This is a fantastic investment in research and capacity that will really impact people’s lives."

The new clinics will be set up in partnership with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, National Centre for Mental Health, The Royal Edinburgh Hospital, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, North London Mental Health Partnership, and Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust.