The government has launched a call for evidence to shape its forthcoming ‘once-in-a-generation’ mental health strategy. The strategy will signal a fundamental shift from crisis intervention to prevention, DHSC states.
Demand for mental health services has been increasing exponentially, especially among younger people, with many facing long waiting times to access support. The government wants to hear from frontline workers, clinicians and others on how care can be transformed, it says, with NHS spending on mental health projected to top £16bn this year. However, the current system remains ‘reactive, fragmented and inconsistent’, it says, with levels of support largely a postcode lottery and many people only getting help when they reach crisis point. The strategy will set a new direction for the system so that it ‘responds earlier and more proportionately’, the government says.
The strategy will ‘look beyond’ clinical settings to consider the role of the voluntary sector, schools, workplaces and local government in promoting positive mental health, DHSC adds, ‘moving from a system that first and foremost seeks to diagnose patients, to one that asks what support people need to live better’.
According to NDTMS figures, around three quarters of people starting drug and alcohol treatment also have a mental health treatment need. A new co-occurring mental health and substance use delivery framework was published by DHSC and NHS England last year to try to address deficiencies in provision and stop people falling through the gaps in services.
‘This government believes that mental health should be treated with the same seriousness as physical health, yet too many people across the country are struggling to get the support they need, when they need it,’ said mental health minister Baroness Merron. ‘Alongside record investment in mental health services and more mental health workers than ever in the NHS, this strategy will give mental health the attention it deserves and set us on a new direction – one that focuses on earlier help, faster access and a whole-system approach. We want to hear from everyone with a stake in getting this right, including frontline clinicians, service providers, and people with lived experience of mental health conditions, so that we can build a system that truly works for everyone.’
‘What matters now is delivery,’ stated chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness UK, Mark Winstanley. ‘We need rapid improvements in access to timely, appropriate treatment, urgent action to ensure inpatient settings are safe and therapeutic, and support that is properly joined up across health, housing and community services.’
Any new strategy would ‘only come to fruition if there is a targeted plan for the workforcein terms of recruitment and retention’, added British Psychological Society president, Dr Roman Raczka – ‘this must take into consideration workloads, supervision and career progression if we are to stand a realistic chance of retaining existing staff as well as attracting new members of the workforce. Only then will be able to reduce mental health waiting lists, and get people the support they need and deserve, and before they reach crisis point.’
Open call for evidence: informing the mental health strategy for England available here until 10 July