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Mental Health in the UK


Guest Orwell1984

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Guest Orwell1984

The real, evidenced, current state of mental health affairs:

The coalition did not invest in mental health support

The current cost of poor mental health to the economy is a staggering 70bn a year.

The conservatives are forcing the mentally ill the opposite way with cuts making services harder to access due to lack of funding, which prolongs mental illness and causing sufferers away from the idea of work.

Mental health spending cuts forecast (BBC news 5 May)

Data from three quarters of trusts shows from 2014-2015 to 2018-2019 income is expected to fall by 8% in real terms.

The figures seen by the BBC are from five-year plans submitted by 41 mental health trusts setting out what they expect their financial position to be in the coming years.

Funding for both adult and children's services in 2014-2015: £5.86bn

2018-2019: expected to be £5.74bn. 8% cut after inflation.

Psychologists against austerity (PAA) was formed in 2014 by a group of applied psychologists so appalled by the impact of austerity on mental health as witnessed by extensive research as well as in their own practice that they believed it to be their "public and professional duty to be speaking out against the further implementation of austerity policies".

They have identified "austerity ailments" directly linking austerity policies to increased mental distress. These are

1. Humiliation

2. Shame

3. Isolation

4. Loneliness

5. Fear

6. Mistrust

7. Instability

8. Insecurity

9. Feeling trapped and powerless.

They qualify these with robust and well-established psychological research (access this on their homepage): https://psychagainstausterity.wordpress.com/

The royal college of midwifery (RCM) has noted that delivering better mental health services for pregnant women and new mothers cannot be done without the right number of midwives and they point out that the Conservative Party has failed to commit to providing more of them.

Jon Skewes (director for policy, employment relations and communications at the RCM) said that England is short of 3000 full time midwives which is having a negative effect on the quality and safety of care for women using the service.

Leaked minutes from the mental health crisis care concordat steering group suggest that the failure to treat mental health patients properly is contributing to pressure at A&E wards in NHS hospitals in England which have missed the target of 95% of people to be seen within 4hrs for 93 weeks in a row. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said 'People return to A&E because community plans are not working for them." The Rethink Mental Illness chief executive Mark Winstanley said community mental health services were "badly funded and overstretched".

He said: "This has to change because it's costing lives. Everyone should be able to get access to a hospital bed close to home whenever they need it, no matter where they live or what their circumstances. We also need the next government to urgently invest in community mental health care, like crisis and early intervention services, otherwise the system will continue to fail people with mental illness".

The mental health crisis care concordat has been signed by 22 national organisations including the Department of Health, the Home office and the charity Mind.

The full Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat -> http://www.crisiscareconcordat.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/36353_Mental_Health_Crisis_accessible.pdf

The Conservative wish list for mental health in the next 5 years:

George Osborne has promised £1.25bn spending on major expansion of mental health services for children and mothers of new babies over the next 5 years.

(Page 28 manifesto)

-We will review how best to support those suffering from long-term yet treatable conditions, such as drug or alcohol addiction, or obesity, back into work.

-If they refuse a recommended treatment, we will review whether their benefits should be reduced.

-We will also provide significant new support for mental health, benefiting thousands of people claiming out-of-work benefits or being supported by Fit for Work.

(Page 39 manifesto)

-We have legislated to ensure that mental and physical health conditions are given equal priority.

-therapists in every part of the country providing treatment for those who need it.

-We are increasing funding for mental health care.

-we will ensure that women have access to mental health support during and after pregnancy.

Edited by Orwell1984
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  • 1 year later...
On 10/05/2015 at 17:18, EzioAuditore said:

The NHS simply has to get better and more effective on where it spends its money.

And vote to leave the EU...10bn saved each year.

Thats not true. Out of the £350 million we put in per week we get £100 million back in a rebate and around £85 million goes back into britain from the EU. Also the medical equipment would cost more if  we left.

Edited by BristolChris
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6 minutes ago, BristolChris said:

Thats not true. Out of the £350 million we put in per week we get £100 million back in a rebate and around £85 million goes back into britain from the EU. Also the medical equipment would cost more if  we left.

I don't really want to get into a Brexit debate as we have an active thread elsewhere, but assuming those figures are true then it still suggests that we are still paying £165 million more than we get back.   Also, we don't know if things will cost more by leaving, at the end of the day manufactures the world over need to sell products, so if they have a market in the UK they will find a way to ensure their products still sell, and if a buyer can get it cheaper from north America then Europe then the buyer will go there. So we simply don't know if things will cost more or not. It could lead to more international companies choosing (or having to) manufacturer here.

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It's very likely that things would cost more. Tax alone would almost certainly make it more. The europion market is massive. Britain on it's own wouldn't be a big market.And yes we put more in than we get back but so do most of the major europion countries. But we do get benefits back.  Also say hypothetically we do save £165 million a week it wouldn't all be invested back in the NHS as some perhaps naive people suggest.

Edited by BristolChris
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  • 4 months later...
On 9/27/2016 at 14:43, alex-online said:

We haven't seen the extra money go to the NHS, and it's not going to happen is it? They were all lies? :( 

What gets me about that issue they used re steering the savings to the NHS is that, if they were a company making an advert, that advert would have been pulled by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The problems with the NHS are complex and it isn't all about funding, however. 

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Guest alex-online
52 minutes ago, taurean said:

What gets me about that issue they used re steering the savings to the NHS is that, if they were a company making an advert, that advert would have been pulled by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The problems with the NHS are complex and it isn't all about funding, however. 

That is very true, Roy. Very good way to put it! Interesting isn't it!

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