Patients harmed by psychiatrist shortage

AT LEAST 1,000 more psychiatrists are needed to tackle “unacceptable” failings in treatment of the mentally ill, the head of the profession has said.

The president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Sir Simon Wessely, said shortages of specialists meant too many vulnerable patients were being sent for treatment hundreds of miles from home.

“The level is totally unacceptable. It would be totally unacceptable for heart attack, stroke or cancer patients to be sent hundreds of miles for care and it is just as unacceptable in mental health,” he said.

Speaking before becom- ing president of the Royal College of Medicine, Sir Simon said attitudes towards mental health had improved, but there was not enough help for those in need.

“Attitudes are very different to when I qualified. There has been a big shift in society,” he said. “My main concern is that we get to a situation where we’ve done all the awareness… but we just don’t have enough psychiatrists to meet the demand. Half of our graduates are not UK trained. We think we need at least another 350 child psychiatrists – probably another 1,000 overall.”

Claire Murdoch, NHS national mental health director, said the aim was to treat patients close to home by using savings to increase services in the community.