Extra £1bn to be spent to improve mental health services.
- Abi Hamlin
- Jul 23, 2016
- 2 min read
The NHS has announced a 5 year renovation of mental health services as the chief executive admitted only 1 in 4 children receive the support they really need.
£1 billion a year will be provided through extra funding which will aim to expand services, improve clinical standards, including a maximum waiting time for mental health patients, as well as preventing ill health.
It will be in addition to a cumulative £1.4 billion that has already been committed for children, young people and perinatal care.
The three-pronged approach was recommended by a Government-appointed task force, which was led by Paul Farmer, head of the charity Mind.
The group is also calling for a “data revolution” to ensure transparency on spending and quality of care.
Other major areas of the plan include integrating mental health and social care services, as well as establishing a system for judging the quality of investigations following in-patient deaths due to the rise of 20% in just 3 years.
£72 million is expected to be spent to better integrating physical and mental health services.
Giving evidence to MPs on the House of Commons health select committee, NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens said: “I don’t think anybody should pretend that by 2020 we would have got perfection in mental health services.”
He said that at this moment only 1 in 4 children get the help they need but this scheme should allow that number to 1 in 3.
Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s new National Director for Mental Health, said the sector had been a “long neglected” part of the NHS.
“The costs of mental ill health – whether to the individual, their family or carer, the NHS or wider society – are stark,” she said.
“The need for action cannot be ignored. It is now up to all of us to make this a reality.”
SOURCE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/19/1bn-a-year-overhaul-of-neglected-nhs-mental-health-services-anno/
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