More money for mental health!

Alistair Darling has announced what the government will spend its money on for the next three years. There is some good news for people affected by severe mental illness.

The Treasury has set a target for all Government departments to meet. This says that more people with severe mental illness must be in long-term housing and in part or full time employment.

To make this happen, Treasury says that:

  • people with severe mental illness should be given talking therapies
  • supported living arrangements should be offered to people
  • people should be offered special employment support and advice
  • a new strategy will be written on prison mental health
  • more charities should be involved in delivering services
  • everyone needing help should have one person who they can turn to
  • people should get help with managing money
  • people using services and their families should be asked their views about the support they get

This is a big success for Rethink. We asked Treasury earlier this year for a target about breaking the link between severe mental illness and homelessness and poverty. This is a big step towards achieving that aim.

They have also set a second target to reduce discrimination against people with severe mental illness in all areas of life.

Find out all the details: Treasury announcement

What did Rethink do towards this?

Rethink has made its submission to the CSR. It includes a vital new review of evidence from the London School of Economics (LSE) which reveals that Britain is not investing enough in people with mental illness. Currently

  • Someone experiencing mental illness can expect to have up to 10 times less spent on their care and treatment than someone experiencing cancer
  • The low funding levels mean that people are unable to access the treatment they need, such as psychological therapies
  • Mental illness is costing the economy £23 billion a year in terms of social exclusion, as government departments fail to address issues like employment and stigma

We also asked MPs to sign a petition in support of our campaign: 51 MPs did sign it, See if your MP signed here!

We know that solutions exist and we know that investment in mental health works. We asked Government to ensure

  • That any increase in health spending includes an above-average increase in mental health spending
  • That a cross-governmental target is set on reducing the social exclusion associated with mental illness

Further information

  • doc 2007 CSR Submission 2908kb
    Read rethink's submission to the government's 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review