NHS England’s taskforce on mental health has today launched its report, setting out a detailed five-year plan for NHS mental health services to support people with mental health problems.

Over 20,000 people who live with a mental health problem or work in the mental health care told the taskforce they want timely access to good quality mental health services. There was also a call for parity of esteem between mental and physical health needs, in which the two are treated equally. More emphasis should also be placed on preventing mental health problems.

Key recommendations from the report include:

  • By 2020/21, one million extra people will be provided with support for their mental health problem.
  • People facing a crisis should have access to mental health care 24/7 – right care, right place, and right time.
  • People’s mental and physical health should be treated equally – including people with severe mental health problems, women in the perinatal period, children and young people.
  • All areas of society, such as schools, workplaces and community organisations need to contribute to the promotion of good mental health and prevention of mental health problems – in all areas of people’s lives.
  • Too many people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities have problems accessing good quality mental health care and have lost faith in services. The taskforce demands urgent action to ensure that everyone gets the help they need, irrespective of their background or the communities they belong to.

NHS England has welcomed the report and has committed to delivering the recommendations, backed by £1billion of new funding in the annual NHS budget by 2020.

Nicky Lidbetter, Chief Officer for Self Help, said:

“This report is an important opportunity to improve services and support across the country and make mental health a priority for everyone in England.

We’re pleased to see the government are committed to delivering the recommendations, backed by £1billion of new funding in the annual NHS budget by 2020.

However, it’s important to consider that getting better mental health services does not always mean spending more money, but instead we should use the resources available to commission services that people actually want and need. I was not surprised to see calls for improvement in crisis care offering access to mental health care 24/7 – right care, right place, and right time.

This feedback shows a need for more services like The Sanctuary (24-hour mental health crisis support that has peer-support at its centre for those experiencing difficulties such as panic attacks and suicidal thoughts) which can play a vital role in helping people with common mental health difficulties cope when they are in crisis.”

Since 2014, Self Helphave been able to support 2000 people throughout the North West at a time of crisis, by advocating a‘stepped care model of mental health crisis provision’. This involves the right intensity of crisis service for each type of crisis prevention, as not all situations require a blue light and A&E response.

Click here to find out more about the full range of services we deliver to improve mental health.