Summary
One in four adults is diagnosed with a mental illness at some point in their lives, but only around a quarter of people estimated to need mental health services have access to them. The Department of Health and NHS England have a laudable ambition to improve mental health services but, given the current pressures on the NHS budget, we are sceptical about whether this is affordable, or achievable without compromising other services. Achieving ‘parity of esteem’ between mental and physical health is a task for the whole of government. The challenge is to build joined-up, well-configured services within the health system and across other parts of government that provide people in all areas of the country with access to the services they need, near to where they live. Achieving parity of esteem will also depend on the health system having the right staff, with the right skills in the right places. Staff costs represent the largest part of the cost of services. But the workforce needed to achieve parity of esteem, and the consequential cost, is poorly understood. Better information is also needed to assess the gap between current mental health services and need so that this can be used to inform planning and decision making.
© Parliamentary copyright 2015
16 September 2016