Local authority leaders have called on the Government to provide long term funding to help support mental health services as health leaders warn these services are ‘being left to fail’.
The Centre for Mental Health (CMH) has warned that a lack of investment and Government focus means that mental health staff and services are stretched to capacity with many now under unsustainable pressure.
Recent figures cited by the mental health specialists show a 16% increase in people using NHS mental health services, with a 30% rise in use in under-18s.
This increase is affecting the rest of the NHS with the CMH citing findings that show almost four times as many people are waiting more than 12 hours in A&E before they can access mental health care compared to two years ago.
There are also more than 16,000 adults and 20,000 children who should be in receipt of community NHS mental health services who are not able to access the help they need every month.
In a new report written with the NHS Confederation, the CMH urged the Government to publish a 10-year cross government plan for mental health, which they said had been ‘kicked into the long grass’.
In their new report, the NHS Confederation and Centre for Mental Health called for action across funding, workforce and delivering services in new and innovative ways, including offering more open access services to the public.
Andy Bell, deputy chief executive of Centre for Mental Health and co-author of the report, said: ‘NHS mental health, autism and learning disability services need to change. We have produced a 10-point vision of how they should look different in 10 years’ time. We know this vision can become a reality, because every element of it is already happening somewhere in the country.
‘But to make it a reality for everyone, we need sustained and sufficient investment and a genuine commitment to radical reform of what services offer and how they work.’
Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Community Wellbeing Board, said: ‘As this report reveals, mental health services are under significant pressure and face challenges to keep up with increasing demand.
‘Councils play a vital role in promoting good mental health and supporting people with learning disabilities and autism in the community.
‘However, they need long term sustainable funding to make this happen and ensure that everyone who accesses mental health services in our local areas gets the support they need.’
