07 September 2007
There has been a lack of progress in helping people with mental health problems access benefits and find work, according to research published this week.
Only 20% of people using community mental health services were in paid employment, the Healthcare Commission survey found.
It also showed that fewer than half (49%) of those who wanted help in finding work were offered it, while 32% of the 16,000 people surveyed said they received no help in navigating the benefits system.
Healthcare Commission chief executive Anna Walker said: 'There are a number of factors associated with improving social inclusion for service users. These include finding jobs and receiving sufficient support at home and within local communities. These results show there is still much to be done.'
The dynamic between mental ill-health and unemployment has become an increasingly high-profile policy problem, and one the government is expected to tackle when it announces a new set of Public Service Agreements alongside the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.
Steve Shrubb, director of the NHS Confederation's Mental Health Network, agreed that there was more to do to help people with mental health problems return to work.
'There is clear evidence that being in work can improve health – particularly mental health – and that being out of work can exacerbate poor health. Indeed, 40% of the total number of Incapacity Benefit claimants suffer from mental illness,' he said.
'As service providers, we recognise that we must do more to address this problem, but we also need to look at the very real problems of stigma and discrimination that people with mental health problems face both in work and in society at large.'
But the patients surveyed also reported some improvements in their care, describing better relationships with their psychiatrists and more access to out-of-hours crisis care.
Satisfaction levels were on a par with those of previous years. More than three-quarters of respondents said the services they received were 'good', 'very good', or 'excellent'.
Paul Corry, director of public affairs at the mental health charity Rethink, said the September 3 report showed that the investment directed at mental health services was delivering results.
'More people can have confidence that they will receive the community support they need to recover a full and meaningful life from severe mental illness,' he said. 'The message to the government is very clear – don't take your foot off the investment pedal.'
PFsep2007
