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.
A SUCCESSFUL travel scheme which helps youngsters in Sudbury and Doveridge with special educational needs get out and about could be continued.
Derbyshire County Council’s training helps youths with reduced mobility, learning difficulties or low confidence use public transport.
Its contract with the National Star Foundation is due to end in September next year but a proposal to go out to tender for three years of the training will go to the cabinet meeting for children and young people on Tuesday.
