Mental health

IF the rhetoric from ministers about prioritising mental health were matched by anything resembling reality, the UK would not have too much to worry about on this vital issue. Sadly, normal service has continued during the coronavirus pandemic: despite promises by successive governments for mental health to enjoy parity with physical health, it is again the very poor relation.

Like social care, mental health is an unglamorous and often invisible part of our “cradle to grave” system. Ministers would much rather be filmed in shiny new hospitals; the cameras rarely capture them visiting mental health units or care homes. It is hard to imagine a Nightingale mental health facility miraculously appearing. Boris Johnson likes to trumpet his 40 “new” hospitals, even though more than half involve rebuilding projects or extra units on existing sites. Only two are mental health facilities.

NHS Providers, which represents hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services, has accused the Government of “structural discrimination” against mental health by ignoring the huge psychological damage in the crisis. While saying some progress has been made in the past decade, the NHS bosses fear the Government has lost focus at a critical moment. The result is cancelled appointments, delayed or no treatment, condemning many people with depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder to “distress, pain and suffering”.

According to the centre, 1.5 million of the 10 million likely to need treatment will be under 18. The months of lost schooling, anxiety over examinations, reduced contact with friends and less physical activity will all take their toll.

Mental health must not remain at the back of the queue behind Covid treatment, the alarming backlog of people with nonCovid conditions such as cancer, and the economy.

The emerging evidence about “long Covid” is worrying enough. The Government must act now to prevent a mental health crisis becoming the pandemic’s awful legacy.