Mental health cuts ‘put lives at risk’
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Cuts to adult mental health services in England have started damaging the quality of care given to patients, a report suggests.
The review by the King’s Fund think tank found there was now “widespread evidence of poor quality care”.
Researchers linked this to the use of unproven, cheaper services in a bid to balance the books.
One mental health charity says “disappearing” services are putting lives at risk.
But the government said the amount of money being made available for mental health had been increased overall.
The review also pointed to growing evidence that there was inadequate support for those with severe problems.
It said only 14% of patients had reported receiving appropriate care in a crisis, while hospital bed occupancy rates were routinely exceeding recommended levels – leading to patients being sent to units many miles away from their home.
The think tank looked at official data and previous research as well as carrying out its own analysis to come to its conclusions.
Why there is a mountain to climb on mental health
It warned that many of the changes now being made to help trusts cope with cuts to their budgets – four in 10 have seen their income drop in the past year – represented a “leap in the dark” because of a lack of evidence they would work.
These included the merging of specialist teams that deal with crisis situations and those that provide early access to psychosis services, into generic community teams that are not always equipped to deal with the demands being placed on them.
‘Not appropriate’
One woman, who the BBC is calling Kate, said her acutely suicidal father was taken by ambulance staff to a mental health café because they could not find him a hospital bed. She said it was meant to be a place where people could talk about their problems.
“It’s certainly not appropriate for somebody who is very suicidal. In fact it’s not safe to take someone like that to a café.
“They need to be in hospital, their life is at risk. They need to be treated by medical staff as you would anybody with a serious health condition.”
The King’s Fund think tank also found:
- More than two-thirds of mental health trusts were or had recently overhauled services
- Of those, more than half had plans to reduce staffing levels or the skills mix in its workforce
- A quarter were aiming to use less qualified staff, by replacing nursing with volunteers and support workers
- More than 10% said they would be further reducing bed numbers
The King’s Fund said some of these changes had even pre-empted cuts to budgets – a sign that trusts feared they would face more cuts in the future.
‘Lives at risk’
Report author Helen Gilburt said: “Trusts have looked to move care from the hospital to the community focusing on self-management and recovery.
“Few would dispute the intention and rationale for this – the problems arise with the scale and pace of the changes which lack the necessary checks to evaluate their effectiveness and the impact on patient care.”
Marjorie Wallace, of the charity Sane, said she too was concerned. “A lot of mental health services are disappearing and we really believe that people’s lives are being put at risk unnecessarily.”
But ministers said overall the amount of money being made available for mental health had been increased and improvements were being made by steps such as the introduction of waiting-time targets as part of the drive to achieve “parity of esteem” between mental and physical health services.
Care Minister Alistair Burt added: “We have made great strides in the way that we think about and treat mental health in this country.”
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