The Chief Medical Officer's report has highlighted concerns about the 70 million working days lost to mental illness last year at a cost of up to £100 billion to the economy.
With the number of working days lost to stress, depression and anxiety increasing by 24% since 2009, the CMO, Dame Sally Davies is calling for NICE to analyse the cost benefit of fast-tracking access to treatment for working people who may fall out of work due to mental illness. Rapid access to treatment could improve people’s chances of staying in work.
The CMO report also found that:
• 75% of people with diagnosable mental illness receive no treatment at all. The CMO has reinforced calls for parity of funding with the acute sector for mental health services and for waiting time targets for mental health services to be developed by NHS England.
• There is a need for greater focus on mental healthcare for children and young people. 50% of adult mental illness starts before age 15 and 75% by age 18. Early treatment for young people can help to prevent costly later life problems including: unemployment; substance misuse; crime and antisocial behaviour.
• There should also be a greater focus on the link between long-term physical conditions and mental illness. People with a chronic physical condition have a 2.6-fold increase in the odds of having a mental illness. In a Manchester study of heart conditions, 20% had depression with a further 21% developing depression in the following year.
• The CMO recommended piloting integrated psychiatry services with primary care and the development of psychiatric expertise in primary care. She said this could prevent underlying issues escalating and developing into enduring mental illness.
Professor Dame Sally Davies commented: “The costs of mental illness to the economy are astounding. Through this report, I urge commissioners and decision-makers to treat mental health more like physical health.
“The WHO model of mental health promotion, mental illness prevention and treatment and rehabilitation should be adopted in public mental health in England.
“Anyone with mental illness deserves good quality support at the right time. One of the stark issues highlighted in this report is that 60% to 70% of people with common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety are in work, so it is crucial that we take action to help those people stay in employment to benefit their own health as well as the economy.”
