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Monday, January 11, 2016

David Cameron pledges extra mental health support

Specialist care for new mothers with mental health problems and support for anorexic teenagers will gain money allocated in the Autumn Statement.
The PM also pledged more support in hospital A&E departments.
In a speech he also confirmed new parenting support and plans to demolish some of England's worst council estates
The PM said mental illness was not contagious and is "nothing to be frightened of". 
"As a country, we need to be far more mature about this. Less hushed tones, less whispering; more frank and open discussion," he said.
"We need to take away that shame, that embarrassment, let people know that they're not in this alone, that when the clouds descend, they don't have to suffer silently.
 be able to say to anyone who is struggling, 'talk to someone, ask your doctor for help and we will always be there to support you'."
The specific measures, which will apply in England only, are:
  • £290m up to 2020 to give 30,000 more women each year access to specialist mental health care before and after giving birth, including through classes
  • £247m over the next five years so that every hospital has mental services in their Accident and Emergency unit
  • A new waiting time target for teenagers with eating disorders, which will track the number of patients being seen within a month of being referred
  • A target that at least half of people experiencing psychosis for the first time should be treated within two weeks
Mr Cameron also referred to his plans to spend £140m to regenerate council estates, double funding for relationship counselling to £70m over the next five years, and relaunch a coalition policy of parenting classes, which were criticised after a low take up in a pilot scheme.
Mr Cameron said that he personally thought "all of us" could have done with more advice on raising children.
"What about later on, when it comes to good play, communication, behaviour and discipline? We all need more help with this - the most important job we'll ever have."

'Health disparities'

Lib Dem spokesman Norman Lamb, who was a health minister during the coalition government, said the PM's plans "fell well short" of the ambitions set out by his party and the Conservatives in 2014.
"We said then that the objective for 2020 should be comprehensive maximum waiting time standards in mental health so that there is equality of access between physical and mental health," he said. "There's nothing today which meets that vision."
"It will leave many people with mental ill health still with no right to access treatment on a timely basis. It will leave a disparity between physical health and mental health at the heart of our NHS. That is morally wrong and economically stupid."
Sane, a charity which helps those with mental illness, welcomed the extra cash but questioned how many people it would help.
Chief executive Marjorie Wallace said: "This is a revolution that should have happened a decade ago, before mental health services reached such a crisis point that the government has been forced to repair the damage and suffering experienced by so many people with mental illness and their families.
"Sane welcomes the new proposals, but questions whether this revolution will reach beyond the groups identified to the thousands of people with enduring mental illnesses who continue not to receive help."

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