This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
NHS mental health recruitment plan for England
The NHS are to recruit thousands more mental health workers in England, the health secretary has said.
The aim is to recruit enough staff to treat an extra one million patients by 2020-21. But the Royal College of Nursing said the plans did not add up, and more ‘hard cash’ would be needed if the new staff were to be trained quickly enough.
The government said an extra £1 billion already promised for mental health services in England would fund the scheme, which is part of £1.3 billion committed in 2016 to transform the service.
The plans set out include improving staff training, encouraging those who have left the profession to return, and addressing a high dropout rate among trainees.
It also includes: 2,000 more nurses, consultants and therapist posts in child and adolescent mental health services; 2,900 additional therapists and health professionals supporting adult talking therapies; 4,800 additional posts for nurses and therapists working in crisis care settings; and more mental health support for women around the time they give birth and early intervention teams working with people at risk of psychosis.
Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, said: “We want people with mental health conditions to receive better treatment, and part of that means having the right NHS staff.
"We know we need to do much more to attract, retain and support the mental health workforce of the future - today is the first step to address this historic imbalance in workforce planning."
However, Barbara Keeley, Labour’s shadow minister for mental health, said: “The workforce plan provides no real answers on how these new posts will be funded or how recruitment issues will be overcome.
"And it offers little hope to those working in the sector faced with mounting workloads, low pay and poor morale."
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