Mental health care is often described as the Cinderella of medicine – overlooked, disparaged, and generally neglected. In the UK, mental health care is the single biggest item on the NHS budget (£12.16bn in 2010/11), but in practice this means that only about 11% of the overall spend is allocated to deal with 23% of the disease burden. Recent cuts have also hit mental health care significantly harder than acute hospitals, creating a combination of falling capacity and rising demand. Mental healthcare appears to suffer from the same stigma in policy circles as individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder experience in private life. And just as stigma leads to worse outcomes for individuals with mental health problems, the underfunding of mental health care leads to higher long-term costs for the NHS.
Norfolk’s pledge on mental health care
Police, political leaders and health service chiefs have joined forces to pledge an improvement to mental health care in Norfolk.
12th August 2014
The county is the first in the country to sign up to the government’s mental health crisis care agreement, a joint statement on how public bodies should work together to tackle mental health problems.
The declaration has been signed by bodies including Norfolk Police, the county’s police and crime commissioner, Stephen Bett, and Norfolk County Council, plus a host of health trusts, commissioning groups and charities.
It states: “We will work together to improve the system of care and support so that people in mental health crisis are kept as safe as possible.
How technology could help monitor and treat mental health conditions
Technology has the potential to make significant and cost-effective contributions to mental healthcare
Dearne MP’s pledge to support carers
A few days ago I welcomed two women from the Dearne to Westminster.
They were among 50 ‘kinship’ carers who had come to talk to MPs – grandparents and other relatives who raise children who can no longer live with their parents.
As Julie, from Goldthorpe, and Karen, from Wath, told me, they just wanted to keep the children in the family.
They stepped in because they loved the child and wanted to do the right thing – but suddenly taking on a full-time caring role in your 50s or 60s can come at a high price.
