by admin
Time for a rethink?
Dec 2 2010 in Features, Media, Mental Health by admin
Charities call for changes in mental health care services.
The Kings Fund and Centre for Mental Health reports that £500m could be saved if mental health services in England were run more efficiently.
In a report released today, the charity announced that mental health services should concentrate on reducing hospital staying times, cut unnecessary hospital commitments, reduce absence from work due to mental health problems and strive to improve community support.
The conclusions come as the NHS is tasked by the government to find efficiency savings of £20billion by 2014. At present, one pound in ten is spent on mental health services and provisions.
The report went on to recommend a further list of priority tasks to be implemented as soon as possible. They were:
- A reduction in unnecessary bed use in hospitals and psychiatric units by better use of crisis teams and community support
- Fewer transfers of patients to facilities outside their local areas
- Improvements in services for older people with mental health conditions, such as reducing delays in discharging dementia patients from hospital.
- Better support for people with mental health problems to enable them to stay in work
Report co-author Andy Bell, of the Centre for Mental Health, said: ‘Mental health services can do their bit to make the NHS more productive but should not be singled out for cuts to valued and valuable activities.’ Experts from across the mental health field have already started commenting on the report.
Prof Nick Craddock, Professor of Psychiatry at Cardiff University said more research was crucial, commenting on the work: ‘We need services informed by evidence, rather than the political ideology that has driven many of the wholesale changes over recent years. It is good to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. However, it is important to realise that for many patients admission is life saving, and is a vital part of high quality care.’ He continued with: ‘The NHS has to get better at seeing the whole person. Treating someone’s physical symptoms and not understanding their mental health just isn’t good enough.’
And Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said: ‘We do not want cuts to hurt mental health services, however our experience of a series of tragedies highlights our view that closing beds and hospital wards and relying on crisis teams is not the answer. We know of many patients who need more intensive help than many hard-pressed community teams can offer. Without the backstop of in-patient care, they and their families can find themselves neglected when they are most in need.’
Commenting on the King’s Fund report on Mental Health and Productivity published yesterday (2 December 2010), Professor Dinesh Bhugra, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said:
“Given the link between the UK’s economic wealth and mental health, the RCPsych opposes harmful or disproportionate cuts to mental health services. However, we all know that NHS services now need to do more work for less money. To achieve this, we must use clinicians’ time and expertise in a much more efficient manner. For example, quickly establishing what is wrong with a patient is key to delivering good and efficient care. Consequently, drawing on the expertise of highly-skilled staff like psychiatrists early on could result in patients being directed to the care they need more quickly, efficiently, and without repeat assessments. This is incredibly important where patients present with complex needs, or where they are experiencing a crisis.
“We do, however, have to exercise caution in making sure that change is necessary and proportionate. For example, while we welcome better community services for all, shortages in inpatient hospital beds for people with serious mental health problems continue to be reported. This is a real concern. If people do not receive the inpatient care they may need, this can lead to a further deterioration of health. We need to recognise that different patients will need different forms of care, of which community and inpatient services are both important parts. Consequently, with thoughtful and careful investment, we can transform individual lives and save the NHS money. This is not about needlessly rebuilding the NHS, but about rethinking aspects of its practice. Where such change is necessary and possible, this needs to happen.”