Legal News

A group of leading mental health charities has published a letter warning that future budget cuts in mental services are likely to put more lives at risk in a service that is already under-funded, including children’s mental health services.

BBC News reports that Mind, The Mental Health Foundation, Rethink Mental Illness, the NHS Confederation Mental Health Network, the Centre for Mental Health and the Royal College of Psychiatrists say the government cuts to mental health budgets are a ”false economy”.

Many mental health trusts across England and Wales are struggling to provide services for mental health patients after cuts of up to 20% in their budgets.

The letter published by the six organisations coincides with a report that claims early-intervention services in children’s mental health services have been cut in the last 12 months.

Under the Mental Health Act, those under the age of 18 should not be admitted to an adult mental health ward unless absolutely necessary.

Children’s mental health organisations warned in 2014 that children’s mental health services were overstretched and near to breaking point in some areas of the country.

The three main political parties last year pledged to give mental health services parity with physical health in the NHS – and NHS England has said that procedures are already in place to ensure this happens, adding that it had been “working solidly” in its first year to ensure that mental health “no longer inhabits the silo that existed in the old system, but is fully embedded in all the work we're doing to deliver outcomes and high quality care.”

Chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health, Sean Duggan, said that early intervention programmes were “very good value for money”, adding that the prospect of budget cuts was “very worrying”.

“Early Intervention in Psychosis services are known to be highly effective in helping young people to negotiate their first episode of psychosis”, Mr Duggan told BBC News.

“They offer hope of a brighter future by helping young people to stay in education, to get and keep work – and to support their physical health.

“They save the NHS £9 and the wider economy another £9 for every £1 invested in them,” Mr Duggan added.

He also said that cuts in mental health budgets meant young people were facing delays in accessing services.

Mental health charity Mind also said in a report that one in three local authorities in England had halved the number of people with mental health problems receiving social care support – even more than among elderly people or those with disabilities who are also having social care support cut.

Research from the London School of Economics estimates that as many as 30,000 mental health patients have lost access to social care support since 2005.

Duncan Lewis Mental Health Lawyers

Duncan Lewis is the UK’s largest provider of Legal Aid mental health services and our mental health lawyers regularly visit police stations and hospitals to advise on mental health law, including detention under the Mental Health Act.

In some cases, Duncan Lewis mental health lawyers may be able to advise the Nearest Relative or carer of a mental health patient on mental heath law, including access to services and initiating treatment reviews, where appropriate.

For expert legal advice on mental health law, contact the Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors Helpline on 0203 114 1124.