Funding plea for rise in mental health problems

Mental health experts are calling on the Government to increase help for an estimated 1.6 million people waiting for help.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists said a record 1.5 million people received NHS mental health support in June but many more are in desperate need of treatment because of the pandemic.

The figures for June are the highest since records began and 12.4% more than the same time last year.

The college is calling for additional funds on top of existing Government commitments alongside £3bn in capital cash over three years to tackle issues such as the poor condition of mental health buildings.

Psychiatrists say the pandemic caused referrals to rise by 24% in June – to to 392,703 – compared with 316,974 in the same month last year.

Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: "We mustn't overlook mental health when tackling the NHS backlog caused by the pandemic.

"The pandemic has also been catastrophic for people’s mental health and its devastating impact will be with us for years, but we shouldn't let it wipe out years of progress.

"We need the right resources and decisive action on the long-term challenges to help stretched services that are struggling to meet demand.

"This means building new mental health hospitals, transforming our outdated infrastructure and training more specialist doctors to provide high-quality care.

"But this is about more than just the NHS – public health and the prevention of illness must be a top priority as well."