12 January 2007
Spending on mental health care needs to rise by 50% in real terms if the government's ambitious policy framework is to be successfully implemented, campaigners are warning.
A new report from the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, published on January 12, said staff numbers would have to rise by almost 40% to roll out the National Service Framework to the agreed timetable.
Spending on mental health services has been 'unprecedented' in recent years, the report said, with a 7% real-terms rise between 1999/2000 and 2005/06. But even though the total should reach £6bn by 2010/11, it would need to reach £7.5bn to fulfil NSF requirements.
In staffing terms, numbers would need to be boosted by 38% between 2005/06 and 2010/11, the report adds, including 4,000 more medical staff and 20,000 more qualified nurses.
Angela Greatley, Sainsbury Centre chief executive, said: 'A great deal of extra investment has gone into achieving much of [the NSF]. But there remain major gaps, especially in mental health promotion and in primary care.'
However, the report acknowledges that dramatic increases in resources are unlikely in the current climate. 'The prospective funding gap should not necessarily be interpreted as a criticism or as a sign of failure but rather as a measure of the very ambitious nature of the agenda for the development of mental health services that was launched by the NSF,' it states.
The challenge, the authors conclude, is to set a clear policy direction for the development of mental health services over future years and determine how best any additional resourcing can be spent.
PFjan2007
