Troops who wait a year for mental health care

VETERANS diagnosed with mental health problems can wait up to a year for treatment, MPs warn today.

In that time, many see their condition worsen and in extreme cases some take their own lives while waiting for help, they say.

A report published today calls for a new ‘world- class centre’ to be set up specifically to treat troops with mental health problems.

The MPs behind the report said the centre should be established in the next 12 to 18 months and should be comparable to Britain’s leading rehabilitation centres treating those physically wounded in conflicts.

They said it would be wise to set it up in the newly opened Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre at Stanford Hall, near Loughborough, in Nottinghamshire, which has taken on the work of Headley Court – once a world-leading facility for treating injured soldiers.

The report by the Commons defence select committee concluded: ‘It should be a national aspiration to establish a similar world- class centre for the treatment of mental injuries relating to service as well.’

The committee said it was ‘deeply concerned’ about the lack of quality mental health care for veterans, warning some are ‘still being completely failed by the system’ and forced to wait up to a year to receive treatment after diagnosis.

Those in the Armed Forces worry that telling superiors they are struggling with their mental health could cut short their careers, the report warned. And it said it is a ‘scandal’ only £10million a year of the NHS budget of more than £150billion is allocated to veteran-specific mental health services – around 0.007 per cent. Committee member Ruth Smeeth MP said: ‘Fundamental issues still clearly exist, with scandalously little funding allocated … and it is unacceptable that veterans and their families should feel abandoned by the State as a result.’

The Government welcomed the report, but added: ‘The Ministry of Defence has increased spending on mental health support for the Armed Forces to £22million a year.’

‘Being completely failed by the system’