Department of Health and Social Care
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Mental health Tsar maps out way ahead for mental health reform

Mental health Tsar maps out way ahead for mental health reform

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH News Release (2007/0106) issued by The Government News Network on 11 May 2007

Professor Louis Appleby, the National Clinical Director for Mental Health explains why improvements in community care must continue and sets out a new phase of reform in mental health services in a report published today.

Tracing the development of community services from former institutional care to today's modern, specialised community teams and services such as home treatment, Professor Appleby sets out the case for the next stage of reform of community care reform.

Breaking down barriers - the clinical case for change, is the latest in a series of reports from National Clinical Directors or 'Tsars' and National Advisers focused on the clinical reasons for making changes to the ways that services are delivered.

He calls for the breaking down of barriers that can prevent people from rebuilding their lives and looks at how the expansion in talking therapy services, as announced by Patricia Hewitt yesterday, along with the move to greater community care, will help to continue a process that requires all mental health professions to re-define their role in a modern service. Professor Louis Appleby said:

"We no longer rely on beds to help people with serious difficulties - and patients are given care that they prefer by specialist teams. "Eight years on from the publication of the National Service Framework, it is no exaggeration to say that this has been a period of unprecedented transformation. Large increases in funding and in numbers of staff have created the essential foundation for changing the way that care is delivered.

"There has been a major reshaping of front-line services around the needs of patients in the community. However, changes will not end there. "The next stage in the reconfiguration of mental health services will further strengthen care in the community - breaking down barriers in the way services are delivered. At the heart of these changes will be workforce reform, with the skills of staff more closely aligned to the needs of patients - modern treatments, a better quality of life, social opportunities and improved physical health."

There are now more than 700 specialised mental health teams across 60 mental health trusts which can identify and address problems earlier, provide home treatment as an alternative to hospital and engage patients who do not respond to traditional care. They are staffed by a range of professionals, so that patients get the best of nursing, clinical psychology and social care.

The report also features case studies of people who have been offered alternatives to traditional hospital-based mental health care. One example is the case of an early intervention team in Worcestershire helping Anthony, 24, to regain enough confidence to return to university in September. Early intervention teams provide a quick response to the 7,500 young people a year who suffer their first episode of psychosis.

Anthony's father Andrew said:

"It's a shock when you're told your son has a problem. The reassurance that it is being managed in a structured way gives you confidence that things will improve. I don't think he would have progressed without the team's focus and structure. It's almost run like a business with milestones and six-monthly reviews which everyone is involved in. "It has also helped the family to cope better. We feel part of the team and feel included in Anthony's recovery."

NOTES TO EDITORS

The cost to the nation of mental ill-health has been calculated by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health: "The total cost of care is estimated to be over £12 billion. A further £23 billion is lost, as many people diagnosed with a mental health problem are unable to work. Reduced quality of life and loss of life may account for over £41 billion every year.

FACTS AND FIGURES

- At any given time nearly a sixth of all adults are experiencing depression or anxiety. Mental illness accounts for a third of all illness in Britain. More than 1.3 million older people have a mental illness such as depression and this figure will rise as the age of the population increases.

- One sixth of the population suffers from a mental health problem every day.

- One million people on incapacity benefit suffer mental health problems.

- The total cost to the nation of mental ill-health is as high as £77bn

- 12 per cent of the NHS budget is spent on mental health.

- Mental health accounts for one third of all illness and 40 per cent of all disability in Britain.

- More than 1.3 million older people suffer from depression or other mental illness.

- One in ten mothers suffers from post-natal depression.

- Since 1997 the number of consultant psychiatrists has risen by 55 per cent (2,447 to 3,800).

- Since 1997 the number of psychologists has risen by 69 per cent (4,100 to 6,800)

- Since 1997 the number of psychiatric nurses has risen by 9,300 (39,109 to 48,400).

Breaking down barriers - the clinical case for change is available on the Department of Health website http://www.dh.gov.uk

Non-media enquiries to 020 7210 4850.


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