Campaign reply - Better mental health starts with research

Thank you for contacting me about access to mental health support and services.

Living through the pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of people across our country, and I welcome the steps the Government is taking to improve access to mental health support and services.

As part of the five-year funding offer agreed in 2019, mental health services will receive an additional £2.3 billion a year in real terms by 2023-24 enabling further service expansion and faster access to community and crisis mental health services for both adults and particularly children and young people. 

Furthermore, the Department for Education recently announced a further £7 million for schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead, bringing the total amount of funding for 2022/23 to £10 million.

I also welcome the Government's commitment of around £2 billion to reduce waiting times for mental health services, helping more people to access the support they need and helping to ease existing pressures in the NHS caused by Covid-19. 

In the 2021 Spending Review, I was encouraged to see a new investment of £150 million in NHS mental health facilities linked to A&E and to enhance patient safety in mental health units. Additionally, around £300 million will be spent to complete the programme of replacing mental health dormitories with single en-suite rooms.

The Government has been consulting on plans for a new National Mental Health Plan, seeking views on how to improve mental health services and understand the causes of mental ill-health. The consultation is now closed and the Government is analysing the responses. 

In the Government's Our Plan for Patients published in September this year, the Health Secretary committed expanding mental health support for children at school, given that half of mental health conditions take root by the age of 14. This included a commitment to boost the number of mental health practitioners in primary care and to strengthen mental health support in schools. It also included a commitment to improve access to NHS talking therapies and to enhance community support for adults living with severe mental illnesses.

 

Finally, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities launched the latest  'Better Health – Every Mind Matters' campaign in October this year. This is alongside a pledge to invest £122 million to put recipients of mental health support in touch with jobs advisers. Offering employment support to people under the care of NHS mental health services is a vital part improving the overall well-being of patients.

 

I hope these new services help end the stigma surrounding mental health, offering crucial support to those suffering and those who have suffered in silence for too long. 

 

Once again, thank you for taking the time to write. If you require any further assistance, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.