Poor mental health services in the UK in need of complete rethink

Jun 15 2005

A new study, by the Institute for Public Policy Research in Britain, is calling for a complete rethink regarding the nation's mental health.

The think-tank report, Mental Health in the Mainstream, outlines the growing cost of poor mental health.

Depression, is now apparently the most common reason why people claim incapacity benefit, and one third of GPs’ time is taken up by patients with mental health problems.

The report lays out a vision for mental healthcare and includes recommendations that it says could transform the way governments and the public approach mental health.

Access to workers in locations such as libraries and community health centres, could offer people a fast and effective route into specialist mental health services.

According to the report this would reduce the burden on GPs and offer “everything from a friendly ear to professional counselling”.

The institute wants to see more community-orientated primary care to help rebalance the healthcare system towards more common mental health problems, such as depression, and switch attention away from “a small number of dangerous mentally ill people”.

It says that there have been improvements in mental health services since 1997, but mental health has not kept pace with change elsewhere in the NHS, and adds that mental health should be considered as a positive resource that needs to be nurtured.

Cliff Prior, the chief executive of Rethink, a charity that campaigned for support of the report, says that mental health has been been neglected and stigmatised for too long.

He says that delivering a mentally healthy society necessitates a change in levels of leadership and commitment, from central government, local government, employers, schools and the voluntary sector.

He is confident that if people make this change, the rewards will be great.