Shocking discrimination against mental illness in the health service
18 Jun 2012 | Centre for Economic Performance, LSE
* New report from top economists, psychologists,
psychiatrists and NHS managers
A report published today by the London School of
Economics reveals the massive scale of mental illness in Britain -
and how little the NHS does about it. Mental illness is now nearly
a half of all ill health suffered by people under 65 - and it is
more disabling than most chronic physical disease. Yet only a
quarter of those involved are in any form of treatment.
![Depression](/media/257140/depression-help_500x178.jpg)
The report by the Mental Health Policy Group - a distinguished
team of economists, psychologists, doctors and NHS managers
convened by Professor Lord Layard of the LSE Centre for Economic
Performance - concludes that:
- The under-treatment of people with crippling mental illnesses
is the most glaring case of health inequality in our country. It is
a shocking form of discrimination because effective psychological
treatments exist but are still not widely enough available.
- Therapies like cognitive behavioural therapy lead to rapid
recovery from depression or anxiety disorders in over 40% of cases.
If they were more widely available, this would cost the NHS little
or nothing because of the savings on physical healthcare. The cost
would also be fully covered by savings on incapacity benefits and
lost taxes.
For these reasons the government started in 2008 an excellent
6-year programme for Improving Access to Psychological Therapy
(IAPT). This is making the situation much better than it was,
especially in some areas. However, in other areas local
commissioners are failing to fund the necessary expansion and are
even cutting mental health provision, especially for children.
It is essential that the IAPT programme is completed as planned,
since even this will only provide for 15% of need. Beyond 2014
there should be another major expansion, aimed especially at the
millions of people who have mental illness on top of chronic
physical conditions.
Lord Layard says: "If local NHS Commissioners want to improve
their budgets, they should all be expanding their provision of
psychological therapy. It will save them so much on their physical
healthcare budgets that the net cost will be little or
nothing."
Lord Layard adds a call for the challenges of mental health to
be placed at the heart of government: "Mental health is so central
to the health of individuals and of society that it needs its own
cabinet minister"
[ENDS]
Mental Health Policy Group members
Professor Lord Richard Layard,
(Chair), Director, Well-Being Programe, Centre for
Economic Performance, LSE
Professor Sube Banerjee, Professor of
Mental Health and Ageing, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College
London; Clinical Director MHOA, South London and Maudsley NHS
Foundation Trust; Head, Centre for Innovation and Evaluation in
Mental Health
Stuart Bell, Chief Executive, South
London and Maudsley NHS Trust
Professor David Clark, Professor of
Psychology, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of
Oxford
Professor Stephen Field, General
Practitioner, Bellevue Medical Centre, Birmingham, Chair, NHS
Future Forum & Chair National Inclusion Health Board; former
chairman of Royal College of General Practitioners
Professor Martin Knapp, Professor of
Social Policy, Director of the Personal Social Services Research
Unit and Director of the NIHR School for Social Care Research, LSE;
Professor of Health Economics and Director of the Centre for the
Economics of Mental Health at King's College London, Institute of
Psychiatry
Baroness Molly Meacher, Chair, City and
East London NHS Mental Health Trust
Christopher Naylor, Fellow, Health
Policy, The King's Fund
Michael Parsonage, Chief Economist,
Centre for Mental Health
Professor Stephen Scott, Professor of
Child Health and Behaviour, King's College London; Director,
National Academy for Parenting Research
Professor John Strang, Head of Addictions
Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
Professor Graham Thornicroft, Professor of
Community Psychiatry; Head of Health Service and Population
Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College
London
Professor Simon Wessely, Head, Department
of Psychological Medicine, Institute of
Psychiatry, King's College London
Tags:
Politics of Happiness