NHS Needs to Improve in Treating Mental Health Crisis Patients
So says Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Sadly, however, we have heard this before. There is indeed a crisis in the provision of mental health within the NHS. Indeed, when it is brought to light the great and the good of society wring their hands and say “something must be done”. New initiatives are launched, more money is spent, greater awareness occurs and then…nothing. Nothing seems to change, there are still woefully inadequate provision of mental health assistance for the young as well as adults. There is a problem with recruiting the right people to provide mental health provision. You may recall that the Royal College of Psychiatrists have warned of a crisis in the recruitment of psychiatrists. Psychotherapists are not being in any way fully utilised. Who suffers? Well of course the public.
What should be done? Well I and others have long advocated that what is needed is a summit of all the key stakeholders who represent the public, private and third sectors. What is needed is an integrative plan as to how mental health provision should be delivered. It is no longer good enough to wring our hands the time has come to act and it falls to the NHS, the professional and learned societies and charities to get together on this and make change happen rather than simply wishing it to be so.
