Mental health spending among worst in UK
PUBLIC spending on mental health services in North Lincolnshire is among the worst in the country, according to a survey by the King's Fund.
North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) was found to rank 113th out of 151 trusts in funding for mental conditions in the research spending £146 per head in 2006/7.
Islington PCT came out on top with £332.
The PCT was placed much higher for its spending on cancer and tumours and circulatory problems, including heart disease.
North Lincolnshire Council's lead member for healthier communities and adults, Stuart Wilson said: "I'm sure more could be done.
"Unfortunately, mental health is one of the things that tends to get overlooked when money is short and I suspect they began to under-fund it when the PCT ran into economic difficulties the year before last."
For the full story, buy today's Scunthorpe Telegraph.
2 Comments
by Charles Brindley, Howsham
Tuesday, September 23 2008, 9:58AM
“And it's taken the Kings Fund to tell the service user here in Nth Lincs, that we have an inferiour service for those with Mental Health illness?
Well, blow me down!
So why did the PCT close Sanfield House? This was where those who had left acute care could go and still recieve the care they are, or WERE entitled to. Now MIND has to pick up the bits and pieces, not knowing the history of the service user, or the support that should be in place when the individual leaves acute care.
Mental Health Care is fast becoming the POOR relation of the NHS, why, well, where are the government targets for treatments, there as I understand are none, so they don't get the staff or funding that is needed to bring Mental Health reatments into the 21st centuary.
Where are the Talking Therapies? Where is the Expert Patient Programme?
Care in the Community, only if you are able to get to A&E by your own means when in crisis! And unless they have now a mental health nurse member of staff on 24 / 7 in A&E, you have to wait until someone can come up from the Oaks.
Poorly funded, poorly thought out and very poor provision! And if you are referred to the CMHT it takes some EIGHT weeks for THEM to phone you!
Sadly GP's are supposed to know how to treat those with a whole miriad of Mental Health illness's, the down side, is many can only prescribe a range of medications that will numb the sences and send you home, "Out of Sight, out of MIND"!
However, if you have been diagnosed with a cancer you are into treatments within the TWO weeks, so why are those with Mental Health treated SO differently??
Perhaps if the NHS wasn't a conveyor belt for treatments, we the patient would be treated for our individual needs!
Lets not forget that DASH is one of the governments 'Foundation Trusts' so the money will be there in the short term, to make them work, as well as ALL those none clinical so-called managers, who have little or no idea about "THE PATIENT"!”
by Ian, scunthorpe
Wednesday, September 10 2008, 12:13PM
“Yet despite this, the adult mental health services in Scunthorpe that Scunthorpe lost to Doncaster has proved to provide one of the best services in the country, according to the health watchdog. It makes you wonder what could have been done with adequate funding?”