Welsh mental health outcomes unclear, finds report

Despite 11 per cent of the Welsh NHS budget being spent on mental health services, a new report from Plaid Cymru has stressed that mental health outcomes remain unclear.

The report, A check-up on mental health, compares Welsh NHS mental health services with those in a range of other countries including the Netherlands, Sweden, and elsewhere in the British Isles. It found that although £750 million is spent every year on mental health services in Wales, it’s impossible to measure the success of that spending beyond anecdotal evidence because of the lack of national research.

The report also found that Wales has fewer mental health inpatient beds compared with other countries, a comparatively smaller specialist workforce, as well as a warning of the impact of the ‘missing middle’ in child and adolescent mental healthcare.

Helen Mary Jones, Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Health and Social Services Minister, said: “In the run-up to forming the next Welsh Government in May 2021, Plaid Cymru is taking mental health services seriously. We recognise the need to improve outcomes for those using services in Wales.

“Wales spends substantial amounts of money on mental health services – around £750 million per year. That’s 11 per cent of our NHS and five per cent of the total Welsh Government Budget. However, although Wales has a comparatively high expenditure on mental health, we just don’t have the outcome measures to evidence success, especially in the face of growing awareness of mental health problems.

“In fact, the anecdotal evidence we have from constituents, as well as a number of reports including from the Senedd’s Children, Young People and Education Committee and Health Committee, suggest that people’s experience of mental health services isn’t as good as it should be. This report raises serious issues about the capacity of the Welsh NHS to deal with the challenges of increased pressure on mental health services and to put service users at the centre of their own treatment.”

Nesta Lloyd-Jones, interim director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, said:  Providing people with the mental health services and care they need is a key priority for the Welsh NHS and in our response to the Parliamentary Review we recommended that meaningful outcome measures for mental health and primary care services needed to be developed. We are therefore pleased the Welsh Government’s long-term plan for Health and Social Care, A Healthier Wales, incorporated physical, mental and emotional well-being as well as the development of high quality outcomes and standards.

“We know that in order to achieve person centred care and to maintain people’s mental health and wellbeing, the NHS needs to work with public sector, and our partners within communities. If we are to reverse the growing demand on mental health services, our approach is going to have to be about more than the NHS, focusing on making early interventions and prevention.”