Mental health spending to sink by £4.5 million

Here at Pharmafocus, we highlighted the state of mental health research and the alternative paths that are being trod to aid those suffering from mental health issues. Currently, there are many more public discussions occurring on mental health than perhaps ever before in the UK, with the royal family recently campaigning to spread awareness and encourage engagement. However, as we discovered in our feature, the crux of the issue is funding and that funding is dropping in certain areas of the UK.

Five regions across England plan to cut funding in mental health by £4.5 million in 2017. The areas that plan to make these cuts are Walsall, Sefton, St Helens, the Isle of Wight and Scarborough. The largest of these five will be made in Walsall that plans to cut its budget by £1.9 million.

The cuts come in direct contrast to the call by NHS England that a further $1 billion needs to be spent supporting those with mental health issues by clinical commissioning groups (CCG).

Overall, spending by CCGs has increased by 4.15% but, worryingly, 46 CCGs are not expected to meet targets in 2016/2017. With each CCG responsible for its own area, that means that some people may receive services that compare unfavourably to other regions of the country.

An investigation by Pulse, last year, also found that 60% of GP referrals to child and adolescent mental health services led to no treatment, with a third not being assessed at all.

Pulse reported that Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the BMA’s GP Committee, said: ‘This goes against the pronouncements of Government that mental health will have priority, that we will see more support in the community, the promises we’ve had that there will be greater numbers of mental health workers in primary care. Cutting the mental health budget will have a reverse and damaging effect."