The NHS in England is to invest a further £120 million over the next two years on improving mental health services. The investment comes as part of a five-year ambition that will see new waiting times, standards and early intervention services introduced, helping to put mental health on an equal footing with physical health services.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr Geraldine Strathdee, NHS England’s national clinical director for Mental Health, said: “This programme will start the journey to transform mental health care in England. Today people who present in crisis often wait too long for an assessment and to access treatment. This new approach will help improve crisis care and help reduce the distress that untreated mental illness brings. With 75% of long-term mental health problems diagnosed before 18, investing in early effective treatments will pay immediate and long-term dividends.”
Aims for the new standards, introduced from 2015/16, include:
• 75% of people referred for talking therapies for treatment of common mental health problems will start their treatment within six weeks and 95% will start within 18 weeks.
• At least 50% of people going through their first episode of psychosis will get NICE- approved help within two weeks of being referred.
Mental illness costs the country as much as £100 billion each year through lost working days, benefits and treating preventable illness. It is hoped that improved access to talking therapies will help tackle the 70 million working days lost annually due to mental health problems.
Early treatment for people with psychosis could save the NHS £44 m a year in reduced hospital admissions through people reaching crisis point and improved psychiatric liaison services in A&E departments could save each hospital an average of £5 m a year by cutting down on admissions and length of stay.
The national standards will also help tackle the regional variation in very long waiting times for talking therapies, as well as making sure that there is proper investment in making these services available to everyone who needs them within an acceptable time.
