Mental health funding failing to go far enough

NHS staff are warning that government investment into mental health services for children and young people is failing to reach frontline services.

A new paper, released by the British Medical Association, has shown that nine out of 10 of health professionals believe that the recent increase in central funding was failing to reach the frontline, leaving services, including many CCGs, struggling to cope with rising demand.

The paper states that ‘there appears to be no obvious uplift in spending in recent years’, with ‘insufficient funding’ remaining ‘one of the most significant barriers that limits doctors’ ability to provide optimal mental healthcare to patients’.

The research also found that eight out of 10 CCGs said they spent more on increasing access to psychological therapies than talking therapies suitable for patients in secondary care, under the care of a psychiatrist, stressing that the ‘de-prioritisation’ of psychological therapies in secondary care was concerning.

Gary Wannan, BMA consultants committee deputy chair, said: “These findings are further evidence that funding for mental health services are failing to get through to the frontline at a time of escalating demand. Given the multiple pressures on commissioners across all parts of the NHS, this is not surprising. We have just experienced the worst winter ever in the NHS; the pressures from the acute sector shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. It’s also of concern that there remain huge gaps in the official data on mental health funding. How can we know how far we’re along the road to parity of esteem without the data to guide us?”