In response to the announcement of the upcoming NHS Long Term Funding Plan, Mark Winstanley, Chief Executive of Rethink Mental Illness said:

"We are delighted that the Prime Minister and the Chief Executive of the NHS are prioritising mental health in the Long Term Plan. Rethink Mental Illness and numerous other organisations have been campaigning for many years to ensure there is parity between mental and physical health. For all those people who are severely affected by mental illness we now have the prospect of getting access to good quality treatment, quickly, near home for the first time."

Prior to the announcement, Brian Dow, Deputy Chief Executive of Rethink Mental Illness said: 

“If the detail matches the headline, this could be the red letter day where we begin to genuinely reform the treatment of mental illness. However, either way, it will be the start and not the end because local decision makers need to follow the lead that the Prime Minister and NHS Chiefs have set. In a fractured system under serious pressure where care only really works it is joined up, it would be foolish to take that as a given.”

For more information contact the Rethink Mental Illness media team on 0207 840 3138 or media@rethink.org