‘Fulfil broken promises’ plea

One in four people suffer with mental health issues but 75 per cent get no help at all.

And if that’s not bad enough, mental health patients are dying 15 to 20 years earlier than others and suicide rates are rising rapidly.

These shocking figures were revealed yesterday (February 15) in a report ‘The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health’ by an independent taskforce.

David Cameron has promised ÂŁ1bn extra funding a year by 2020. The government says this will help treat a million more people a year. But Unite is asking: is this enough?

Mental health has been neglected and underfunded for many years. Although Ministers claim to be committed to implementing changes proposed by the taskforce similar things were said in 2011 when the coalition launched its mental health strategy and investment was still cut.

“The promise of funding for mental health is welcome, but with cuts to public health, children’s services and third sector mental health providers, the fear is that it simply won’t be enough to address a history of underfunding and cuts,” said Dave Munday, Unite professional officer for health.

‘Put on hold’

The taskforce’s report acknowledges that services are so bad that lives have been ‘put on hold or ruined’ and ‘thousands of tragic and unnecessary deaths’ have been caused.

It states that the investment will help pay for more support for pregnant women and new mothers – around one in five suffer with mental health problems.

But Unite warned that cuts elsewhere and a ‘hollowing’ out of local support to mums could undermine much of the report and its pledge to give at least 30,000 more women a year access to specialist services.

Public health is facing a massive ÂŁ361m of cuts by 2017 as children’s centres, which provide a vital point of wrap-around support for families and children have been cut – most notably in Oxfordshire, promoting protests from prime minister David Cameron’s mother and aunt.

The Health Service Journal points out that this is not new money but part of the ÂŁ8.4bn George Osborne was forced to promise during the election, faced with unprecedented NHS deficits.

The money has also not been ring-fenced to make sure it goes to mental health.

How money is spent was delegated to local care commissioning groups (CCGs) following the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.

Strapped for cash

CCGs are generally led by GPs and many are now so strapped for cash the worry is that they will use it on contracting for existing services.

“This far sighted report risks being undermined by the short-termism of the government and its salami slicing to areas which support and act as a gateway to people accessing mental health services,” said Dave.

Last month the NSPCC published a damming survey of 1,256 GPs, teachers, social workers and psychologists and their experience of children’s mental health provision across the UK.

Ninety six per cent said there were too few child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs) available for children who have suffered abuse.

More than 37 per cent mentioned cuts to services and 32 per cent criticised a lack of places for children to receive therapy.

“Mental health workers are working under considerable pressure to deliver the best service and help they can,” said Dave.

“They need to be confident that the cycle of robbing ‘Peter to pay Paul’ and then giving a little bit back will end,” he added.

It has been acknowledged that in the NHS mental health support is a ‘Cinderella service’, receiving less than 10 per cent of the NHS budget.

Just three days ago the Daily Mirror reported that under the Tories funding to mental health services has been cut by ÂŁ600m and the number of complaints has risen by 3,500 per year.

“The prime minister and his government need to fulfil the broken promises of the past on mental health and implement this report in full, otherwise mental health will continue to be the ‘Cinderella’ of the health service,” added Dave.