Ambitious 10-year mental health plan comes with a price tag

New Horizons, the government’s blueprint for mental health launched today (July 23), sets an ambitious benchmark for standards but will fail to achieve unless resources are diverted accordingly, warns mental health charity Rethink.

If implemented, the optimistic 10-year vision could revolutionise services and attitudes towards people with mental health problems, but only if cash is made available to enforce the changes. The government pledges that by 2020 mental health support will be available to everyone who needs it and that stigma towards people with mental health problems will have dramatically declined.

Paul Corry, Rethink’s director of public affairs, says: “This is a valuable opportunity to set a vision for mental health that could deliver real improvements to people’s lives. We particularly welcome the focus on early intervention, personalised services, and recovery.  However, this aspirational strategy will be pie in the sky unless it is backed up by adequate resources and dedicated political leadership.  

“Stigma and discrimination remain the biggest barriers to the economy over the next ten years. We need the government to commit to long-term funding of initiatives such as Time to Change [see c below] to transform public attitudes. At present we are a long way from achieving the 2020 aim of a society where people accept that mental health problems can affect anyone at any time.”

Rethink is pleased to see the government's expectation that by 2020:

•  mental health services should be available to all who need them
• stigma will be significantly reduced
• people with mental health problems will no longer be at greater risk of poor physical health
• those who are unable to work will be able to take part in meaningful activities
• physical and mental health will be seen as equal priorities