Mild depression cases seen quicker than the suicidal
Charity warns that people with severe disorders can wait months for treatment they desperately need
PEOPLE with severe mental health problems are being forced to wait longer for NHS help than those with mild depression, experts have warned.
Research shows that patients with conditions such as schizophrenia and personality disorder are being denied help despite feeling suicidal.
Rethink Mental Illness, a charity, has urged officials to introduce NHS waiting targets for mental health problems, including a two-week maximum wait for those suffering from psychosis.
The study found that such patients faced an average wait of two months for treatment. Meanwhile, nine out of 10 of those seeking counselling for mild to moderate depression or anxiety began treatment within six weeks.
Jive talking
Experts warned that those suffering devastating mental health problems were being left to reach crisis point before they got any help.
Patients said they had been told they were “too ill” to access talking therapies for mild to moderate problems – yet “not ill enough” for specialist help.
It follows research which found patients with complex psychosis had been told to pretend their problems were less severe to get help. Brian Dow, deputy chief executive at Rethink Mental Illness, said: “What we want is right treatment, right time but what we too often have is wrong treatment, too late. Thousands find themselves in desperate situations, but have to contend with long waits, bureaucracy, and a severe lack of choice about their care. The result is that far too many reach crisis point before getting help.”
The charity polled more than 1,600 people with a serious mental illness, or those caring with people with such conditions, and found more than half thought they waited too long for help.
The average wait was 14 weeks just to be assessed, with a further wait of 19 weeks for treatment, the study found.
Patients said they had waited so long they feared they would be dead before they got to the top of the waiting list.
One carer told how her husband took his own life after receiving an “appalling” level of care and support after a previous suicide attempt.
More than a quarter of those polled said they had not been referred to an appropriate service by their GP, and 56 per cent said they did not get help in time. Current NHS targets for mental health say 75 per cent of adults referred for talking therapy – as a result of conditions such as mild to moderate depression or anxiety – should start treatment within six weeks of referral.
But the only target for more severe problems is that 50 per cent of patients should get help within two weeks of suffering an episode of psychosis.
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, has said he is considering introducing mental health waiting time targets, expected to be a focus of the NHS 10-yearplan, when it is published next month.