News Date: Tuesday 24th May 2005
Mentally ill still treated as second class citizens, says Loughton
Commenting on the first national survey of acute inpatient mental health wards published today by the Sainsbury?s Centre for Mental Health (SCMH), Tim Loughton MP, who is opposition spokesman for mental health said that the findings come as no surprise.
'It is appalling that with nearly 40,000 people going through mental healthcare wards each year in this country and needing acute treatment, there is simply not the infrastructure in place to care for them adequately. A disproportionate dependence on agency staff not only leads to spiralling costs but means vulnerable patients do not have continuity of care. This would not be tolerated anywhere else in the NHS for physical health provision so why should mental health patients continue to be treated as second class citizens'
The Sainsbury report also highlights the lack of alternative or cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT) available to those with mental illness, suitable for those who do not want to be submitted to the chemical cosh. The provision of alternative therapies should be standard across the UK, and would be of great benefit in particular to those who suffer from mental illness but refuse treatment due to the worry about stigma.
A National survey of mental health trusts that we conducted in 2003 already indicated a lack of senior or lead consultant psychiatrists in wards, and this coupled with the steady flow of mental health staff to community teams has led to a worrying deficit of appropriate care staff in wards.
With one in four adults in the UK suffering from mental illness, it is time to treat mental illness as a serious priority and focus on making genuine improvements. How will we ever prevent tragedies in the community from happening if we do not have the right standards of care in hospitals??
ENDS
Note to editors:
1. Acute Care 2004 was commissioned by the National Institute of Mental Health in England (NIMHE) as a national benchmarking survey of acute inpatient wards in England. The survey took place in Spring 2004. Mental health trust chief executives were asked to provide information on staffing in their acute wards; ward managers were asked a range of questions about ward activities, the environment and policies. Returns were received from 53 chief executives (60% of total) and 310 ward managers (65%) The report is published by SCMH in association with the NIMHE Acute Inpatient Care Programme.
2. For all media enquiries about Acute Care 2004, contact Andy Bell at SCMH on 020 7827 8353 or 07810 503638
3. For a copy of the Conservative Mental Health Trust Survey results 2003, please contact Alice Ferrero on 020 7219
