The state of mental health treatment in the UK

The state of mental health treatment in the UK

The problems regarding Mental health treatment in the UK have long been championed by one of the largest charities in the country who deal with such matters Mind. A 2013 report commissioned by the We Need to Talk coalition of which the mental health charity Mind is part of pointed out that more than one in ten (12%) people with mental health problems are stuck on waiting lists for over a year before receiving talking treatments and over half (54%) wait over three months. The survey of over 1,600 people who have tried to access talking therapies such as counselling and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy on the NHS in England over the last two years also shows how some people are paying for private therapy to get the help they desperately need.

The Learning Station provides Health and Social Care courses with pathways into Mental Health Care, this is a large area of concern within the social services, and they always struggle to find the placements as well as the experienced and passionate staff – so if you are looking for work, look no further this id a huge industry with many care establishments always looking for staff.

The choice of treatment on offer was also found to be limited within the NHS system. CBT (Cognitive behavioural Therapy) the most commonly prescribed talking treatment, doesn’t work for everyone. The coalition found that three in five people (58%) weren’t offered a choice in the type of therapy they received. Since 2007, the Government’s increased investment in the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme has helped millions of people to access psychological therapies on the NHS who otherwise wouldn’t have had this support. However, delays in accessing support and a lack of choice is having a devastating effect on people’s lives and recovery according to Mind. In fact how can such a recovery take place for those who don’t get treatment within reasonable timeframes?

The We Need to Talk coalition has called in its report for the NHS in England to offer a full range of evidence-based psychological therapies to all who need them within 28 days of requesting a referral. The coalition is raising these concerns with an overall backdrop of reduced capacity and budget within UK public services. There is much debate too about migrant sub-classes in the UK as defined by the Census and other statistical representations of UK groupings and whether the treatments that they receive for such conditions are on a par with what is expected of the NHS and its Mental Health guidance. These are not issues that are likely to go away if not satisfactorily tackled with the new inflow of migrants thought to be in excess of 300,000 people for the third successive year in 2015. There is currently no way of controlling this figure as long as the UK is a part of the EU which allows the free movement of people within its borders.

This also means that the issues of many marginalized groups may not be addressed. People from Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities, those with long-term mental health problems such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, older people and children and young people face specific challenges of their own. The coalition held focus groups with people from BME ethnic heritage and over half of those people said that language barriers was a specific issue that they faced. We need to talk wants the Government and NHS England to invest more in psychological therapies to meet demand and urgently introduce maximum waiting time standards to ensure timely access to treatment. Locally, clinical commissioning groups must ensure they commission a range of psychological therapies to meet the needs of diverse local communities.

Very recent findings show too that there can be disparities on the service levels received and access to services depending on what part of the country that patients reside on – this has long been felt to be a problem within the provision of Government services with more affluent communities being thought of as having a particular advantage known sometimes as the ‘postcode lottery’. Liverpool patients were reported this week as are having to wait almost five times longer than the national average for psychological treatment. People in the city are having to wait around 145 days for treatment – compared to the national waiting time of 31 days. An NHS scheme called Improving Access to Psychological Therapies was launched to help people with depression and anxiety disorders access services. Its efficacy was this week brought into question after the delays on Merseyside across were revealed.

Data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre was taken from those who finished their treatment between April to July. Luciana Berger, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, and the shadow minister for Mental Health said: “It is important that every person experiencing a mental health problem in Liverpool gets the help they need as quickly as possible. “Mental health services across the country are under increasing pressure and here in Liverpool more people are affected by mental health problems than the national average.

Mind’s Chief Executive Paul Farmer said back in 2013: “Since our last We Need to talk report, we’ve seen money poured into the IAPT programme with some encouraging improvements in waiting times. However, it is far from acceptable that in some parts of the country people are still waiting over a year to access treatment. This must urgently be addressed if the Government’s commitment to parity between physical and mental health care is to be realised. The Government is committed to improving access to talking treatments but our report shows there is still a long way to go. That’s why we’re urging the Government and NHS England to take heed of this new report and make sure that people with mental health problems are getting the right treatment when they need it.”

Talk Liverpool, which runs the IAPT service, said: “We secured the contract for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) in April of this year at a time of unprecedented demand. However, we are working hard to ensure the majority of our service users are seen for an initial assessment within 14 days. This, in itself, represents a significant improvement. We recognise that waiting for any talking therapy service is frustrating and NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is working with Talk Liverpool to address.