Charity Says Community Mental Health Services are Shamefully Inadequate
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.
Other articles by Dr Greg Mulhauser, Managing Editor
This article was last reviewed by on Friday, 29th September 2006. You can leave a reply below.
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2nd September 2008
Not at all surprising. These statistics are part of our social and cultural systems malfunctioning. Ive witnessed this in America as well.
Asking those who are mentally ill to jump through hoops to get just an appointment. Oh let’s say a month or two down the road! Oh that’s really deplorable indeed.