This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
PM announces new drive to transform mental health services
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that in addition to providing an extra £1 billion towards funding mental health services, the government plans to launch a new drive to transform mental health services.
Cameron said that more support will be available for people with mental health conditions, including helping them to find or return to work. National figures show that almost three in every five people with mental health conditions are unable to work, even though evidence suggests that employment can have a positive effect on treatment.
As part of his speech, Cameron declared that the NHS and private companies will treat potentially debilitating mental health conditions early on through improved access to care and enabling them to find or return to work earlier.
The Prime Minister met with business leaders such as the CEO’s of the Royal Mail, Barclays and BT to discuss the need for a shift in attitude towards mental health conditions in the workplace and to agree on new workplace standards.
Cameron said: "I want to go even further (than providing £1 billion of funding) and end the status quo that sees more than half of people with mental health conditions unable to find a job – ensuring tens of thousands are able to find or return to work over the next five years."
The government has pledged to work with the NHS to ensure: access to talking therapies for people suffering from conditions like anxiety or depression will be almost doubled so that 800,000 people get the support they need thanks to a £308 million investment; 29,000 more people with mental health conditions will be helped to find or stay in work thanks to the increase in these therapies and there will be more mental health experts in job centres to embed the link between employment and mental health; £50 million will be spent to double the reach of programmes finding work for people with mental illness, known as Individual Placement and Support Programmes, with evidence showing these programmes save £6,000 per person due to reduced inpatient costs; and over £50 million is invested to more than double the number of employment advisors, so that they are linked in to every talking therapy service in the country.
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