CCGs not prioritising mental health target

A mental health target set by NHS England in April this year is being ignored by a quarter of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), meaning some patients are not getting the treatment they need.

The target was put in place to give mental health patients the same referral priority as cancer patients, which entitles them to intensive treatment within two weeks of referral.

This means that any patient aged 14 to 65 experiencing their first episode of psychosis will be seen within two weeks with a package of intensive treatment, with NHS England directing more finances to the service to meet increased demand.

The package of intensive treatment includes support for patients from psychiatrists, mental health nurses and social workers, matching the ‘best practice’ blueprint contained in guidelines laid down by the clinical watchdog NICE.

However, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent to 209 CCGs (with 170 responses) in England shows that 23 per cent said they had applied the target to for 14- to 35-year-olds only, with more than three-quarters of those confirming that they had no firm plans to extend it to 35- to 65-year-olds this year.

NHS England estimates that early intervention in psychosis (EIP) should cost the NHS £8,250 a year per patient. The FOI highlighted that 64 per cent of the CCGs did not or could not say what they were spending on EIP, while another 29 per cent said they were spending below £8,250 per patient. A further 32 per cent of the CCGs could not say what their overall planned spending on EIP would be this year.

Norman Lamb, health spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, who conducted the FOI request, said: "It shows that across the country people are not getting the evidence-based treatment set out in the programme. It is like saying to a cancer patient, 'You can have the chemotherapy, but you cannot have the radiotherapy'."