Charity Says Community Mental Health Services are Shamefully Inadequate

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Patients with mental health problems are being denied a basic level of care, according to the Mental Health Foundation. The claim is included in a highly critical response to a report from the UK’s Healthcare Commission into Community Mental Health Services.

In response to a national survey published today by the Healthcare Commission into Community Mental Health Services, Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said:

Patients with mental health problems are being denied a basic level of care; in any other care setting these findings would be unacceptable. There has been no improvement in the last couple of years to community mental health services and the current round of cuts are set to see these standards worsen.

Only 39 per cent of the respondents received counselling from NHS services in this year, yet 57 per cent wanted it. The demand for talking therapies comes as no surprise; they are effective. The Government has a duty to provide a range of treatment options available to people with mental health problems; medication is being relied upon because of a lack of alternatives.

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About the Author: With an educational background in philosophy and mathematics, as well as in counselling, Dr Mulhauser enjoys publishing CounsellingResource.com, providing online counselling and therapy services, and spending time with his family.

This article was last reviewed by Dr Greg Mulhauser, Managing Editor on Friday, 29th September 2006. You can leave a response below.

The URL of this page is:
http://counsellingresource.com/features/2006/09/29/community-mental-health/

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