NHS Providers last week called for physical and mental health to be treated equally by the NHS.
The action plan is to provide ‘values driven, patient centred, and staff enabled’ mental health care.
The disproportionate levels of funding, mental health problems account for 20% of the disease burden but only receives 10% of NHS spending. There is the shortage of staff in mental health settings.
Good mental health is critical to our society and our economy.
There is still a significant unmet need. There is a structural disadvantage to the detriment of the wider health and care sector.
The government is looking to deliver values-driven, patient-centred, and staff-enabled mental health care.
There is the hope to design national priorities and policies in a way that recognises the distinctions between different mental health and neurodiverse conditions and the services that are needed to meet individuals’ needs.
There is the need to develop and implement evidence-based standards, models of care and pathways. This includes neurodiversity and mental health urgent and emergency care.
The waiting time and access standards are to be designed and to hold the mental health sector to these standards, improving patient flow and managing waiting lists.
The variation in availability and consistency of community-based mental health care and support, to be standardised.
The values driven goal requires principles establishing parity of esteem within national policy; delivering consistently high-quality care; and ensuring adequate funding for the sector. There will be capital investment to improve the productivity, quality and value delivered by services.
The patient centred goal is to better focus on services around patients.
The staff enabled goal to deliver better quality and higher value care.
During 2023/24, there were over 30 million mental health contacts, up 14.4% compared to before the pandemic. Detentions under the Mental Health Act increased by over 1,500 over the same period.
385,540 children and young people, in March 2025, are still waiting for treatment from community mental health services, this is also up 14.4% compared to last year.
More than 9 out of 10 NHS providers (in the Autumn survey of Trust Leaders last year) respondents from mental health trusts are worried about their trust’s capacity to meet demand over the next 12 months. 47% admitted that they will scale back services.
41% of those in hospital with a learning disability and / or autistic people could have their needs met in the community with appropriate support. More than half of in-patients have been there for two years or more.
There are concerns expressed across all health trusts, including acute trusts, about the lack of funding in mental health.
Mental health trust leaders believe that capital funding should be allocated increasing capacity to meet demand; funding new service developments; and resolving persistent quality issues. Mental health trusts are operating in old and unsuitable buildings. These buildings do not provide suitable therapeutic environments for patients and affect their rehabilitation and recovery.
Good quality physical environments are important for staff morale and patient safety.
There is a review of how capital funding is allocated, including alternative sources of capital, and current barriers to capital spending. There is a national capital departmental expenditure limit, that is to be reviewed.
The planned funding reduction for 2025/26 will be more damaging than it appears due to there being limited ringfenced mental health service development funding, which mental health trusts have been able to count on in previous years.
Measuring and improving the productivity of services in the NHS is measured through metrics focused on the total number of ‘inputs’ and the total number of ‘outputs’’. This may work for physical health conditions. A more nuanced measure is needed not just for mental health but all health to improve outcomes and better access.
What can you do? Ask your local ICB what they are considering within the funding available now and how they plan to fund services in the future. Lobby your MP about your local services about unmet needs.