With 2015 seeing the end of the current Mental Health Strategy we have a real opportunity to look at the successes and failure of the approach we take to tackling mental ill health in Scotland.
Our health professionals do fantastic work to help people suffering from mental ill health. But a lack of resources means that we are often asking medical staff to work with one hand tied behind their back.
Liberal Democrats in government have helped ensure that the NHS in other parts of the UK prioritise mental and physical ill health equally. But this is not yet the case in Scotland.
The Royal College of Nursing and other groups have been clear that mental health is often the poor relation to physical health when it comes to funding within the Scottish NHS. The impact of underinvestment in these crucial services is damaging for patients and medical professionals alike.
One in four people will have mental ill health at some point in their lives. 10% of children and young people in Scotland have mental health problems that are so significant they impact on their daily lives. Without proper support and treatment, the impact can be devastating, affecting education or work, an individual’s home life and their relationships.
In Scotland’s NHS alone, 11,000 staff were signed off as a result of mental ill health over the last two years. Failing to give people the support they need will have a substantial impact beyond the individuals struggling with mental health issues.
I was pleased that mental ill health was one of the first topics debated at the Scottish Parliament after MSPs returned from the Christmas break. But the motion put forward for debate by the Scottish Government made no reference to the concerns of medical groups regarding overstretch in our mental health service. There is no room for complacency as we work to improve mental health provision.
If the Scottish Government refuses to acknowledge these weaknesses we cannot hope that the situation will improve. And we should be clear – there is substantial room for improvement.
NHS boards are failing to meet targets put in place by the Scottish Government. Last year, 90% of young people needing treatment should have been seen within 26 weeks, but in almost half of Scotland’s health boards this was not the case. In December this target was reduced to 18 weeks.
There has been a 12% increase in the number of children and young people waiting upwards of six months for treatment. Six months is an indefensible waiting time – longer is unimaginable.
We have also had reports that two fifths of GPs have said that they have not referred anyone for psychological therapies recently because waiting times are too long. So the current level of referrals does not reflect need, and vulnerable patients are still waiting too long for crucial treatments.
The Scottish Government has pledged £15 million over three years for improvements in primary care level mental health services. This money is welcome but it will not be enough to secure the transformation we need.
As a result of the spending decisions taken in the UK Government’s 2014 Autumn statement, the Scottish Government will receive more than £200 million in extra funding. A substantial proportion of this money has already been pledged to our NHS. It is critical that a fair share of this cash goes towards boosting mental health services.
SNP Ministers have the money they need to make a big difference and improve the way we support Scots suffering with mental ill health. It is time for them to act.
* Jim Hume is the Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland and the Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesperson on health and housing
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Violent Bonham Carter features on Fake or Fortune?
Have resignations led to a rethink?
High Fell leaflet watch (2)
Two new Makerfield by-election polls gives Burnham 5 and 12 point leads
theakes
Peter Martin
Chloe
Jana
8 Comments
This is good stuff. The NHS and wider society can do more for mental health. Sometimes it is not even directly tackling it, but the little things, such as being a bit nicer to people.
Best regards
Good to see an article on this. The Lib Dems work on highlighting the need for improved treatments for conditions such as depression has led the way. We must also focus on prevention though to make sure that the way our society is structured is not actually contributing to the problem. People who are on zero hour contracts, in low-paid jobs or facing permanent redundancy rounds, or those who are isolated such as the elderly are more vulnerable. Just as we need public health programmes to tackle obesity so we need investment in strategies for wellbeing.
Judy
“..People who are on zero hour contracts, in low-paid jobs or facing permanent redundancy rounds..”
The Cameron-Clegg Coalition tell us that these people on zero-hours contracts and low-paid jobs are the evidence that shows that their very right-wing economic policy is “working”.
@ John Tilley
I tend to agree – although more people in work is a positive trend – and regret the decline of the number of people in secure skilled jobs with good salaries and career prospects (although I do think the rise in apprenticeships under the Coalition will begin to help). Zero-hour contracts should certainly be scrapped for all but those few groups of people who want them, but the key is – by consensus – to give social wellbeing, rather than profit, a much higher priority in our economic policies. There are just too many losers in our competitive, league-table driven society, anxiety fueled by constant exposure to bad news and graphic images of violence in the media (I wrote an evidence-based article on this a few years ago so this is not just scaremongering), with many people also having a very poor-work-life balance because of relentless pressures in the workplace. Things are particularly bad in academia at the moment according to a Guardian article last year with rising mental health problems among university teaching staff. I don’t believe it’s all doom and gloom though, but I do think we need to start rearranging our priorities if the mental health bill is not to skyrocket further (currently estimated to cost the UK economy more than £100 billion a year) . We need to ask ourselves profound questions about the way we live and what we think a good life is for everyone not just some people – and that includes me asking those questions too.
Judy
Yes I think you and I are in agreement.
We both question what you describe so well as — ” ….our competitive, league-table driven society, anxiety fueled by constant exposure to bad news and graphic images of violence in the media … with many people also having a very poor-work-life balance because of relentless pressures in the workplace”
This ‘pressure cooker’ society for those at work combined with benefits sanctions, growing dependency on food banks, further planned cuts in what we used to call ‘social security’ for those who want to work are grim reminders of the reality of Coalition Britain.
Coalition economics is great if you are one of the Super Rich but not so good for the rest of us.
Is it any surprise we have a soaring mental health bill?
As one of the one in four, I must agree with Judy and John concerning “….our competitive, league-table driven society, anxiety fueled by constant exposure to bad news and graphic images of violence in the media … with many people also having a very poor-work-life balance because of relentless pressures in the workplace”
After the relative egalitarianism of the 1960’s and 70’s just how did we get to the position of where we are today – nothing to do with the Tories and Labour parties swallowing Thatcherite US-exported monitarism and all things market-driven was it?
For years I was proud to be a member of the one main stream party which rejected this consensus.
As it is unlikely to happen before it, I look forward to us very publically returning to this position the day after the general election.
@John
To be fair John, the Lib Dems genuinely want to deliver more for the less well off (and have had some successes in Government), but being in Coalition has involved uncomfortable compromises. However, this time around I think we should be calling for much higher taxes for improved health and social care – and the kind of psychological services Jim Hume talks about in this article. I actually believe people would pay up – we underestimate their generosity.
I am of Danish descent and in the 1970s my uncle paid over 90% tax on the upper levels of his income to the state . He wasn’t thrilled about it, but my lovely, elderly grandmother had a home help for two hours every day. It’s about priorities and choices.
I agree with the comments expressed here by Stephen Hesketh, Judy and John Tilley. Mental health is a massive issue, especially in the current climate. The neo-liberal culture is unforgiving and unrelenting.
At least this is an area where Lib Dems are making a difference but the party should critique the economic policies behind this culture more deeply.