The government talks a really good talk when it comes to mental health. Any time mental health is raised at prime minister’s questions, David Cameron is very quick to let us know that we have ‘parity of esteem’ for mental health. This very important principle was written into the Health and Social Care Act, following amendments put forward by my Labour colleagues in the House of Lords.
But on my weekly travels across the country, and from the countless emails I receive, I know we are very far from achieving equality for mental health. Over the last five years we have seen services, beds and the number of doctors and nurses working in the sector cut; early intervention and prevention has been stripped away; the thresholds for accessing services are now out of reach for too many people, particularly children. We have a system in crisis because it focuses on crisis.
If the government is serious about ensuring mental health is treated in the same way as physical health it is crucial that it knows and understands what is happening on the ground. The fragmentation in the NHS, created by the Lansley reforms, means the task of capturing all the facts is not an easy one. That does not mean it should not be done.
Every day that parliament sits, I endeavour to use my ‘five a day’ – I submit five named day parliamentary questions which receive a published government response within three days. Too often the answer comes back from a minister that the ‘data is not collected centrally’. Sometimes they admit there is no data at all.
I ask these questions because I am told by service users and professionals alike that there are serious problems. And so it is quite astounding that the government says it does not know:
- The number of people referred to consultant-led mental health services who received services within the 18 week target time
- The number of children who have died in inpatient care
- The number of specialist nurses and midwives working in mental health
- How many people diagnosed with a mental health condition received a custodial sentence in each of the last five years
I often ask the follow-up question of whether the government has any future intentions to pull together this information, which is often collected on a local level by individual trusts and clinical commissioning groups. The answer is almost always ‘No’.
These shocking gaps in data have left the mental health system unaccountable and struggling to meet people’s needs. For the next month I am going to share one of these questions every day on social media, to shine a spotlight on where ministers are choosing not to collect and collate this vital information.
The government has made a number of promises that it intends to improve transparency and accountability in mental health. On behalf of the one in four of us who will experience a mental health condition in any year, Tory ministers urgently need to make these pledges a reality.
Follow the #mentalhealthmatters campaign at @lucianaberger or on Facebook here
———————————-
Luciana Berger MP is shadow cabinet minister for mental health. She tweets @lucianaberger