£130 Million Investment For Mental Health, UK
The Department of Health today announced £130 million capital investment in mental health services. The money, announced by Health Minister Rosie Winterton, will update the mental health estate and ensure that each mental health trust has access to an 'appropriate place of safety' for assessment of people brought in under the Mental Health Act by the police. It will also go towards updating acute inpatient wards and Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICU).
Currently many people picked up by the police who need a mental health assessment are taken to police stations as a 'dedicated place of safety', as required by the Mental Health Act. This practice has been criticised by the Joint Commitee on Human Rights and the Cross Government Group on the Management of Violence and Aggression. In part, this money will go towards developing more appropriate venues to reduce the reliance on police stations.
Health minister Rosie Winterton said:
"We have been working to improve mental health services but we know that the mental health estate needs refurbishment. Although recent investment has delivered improvements across the country, much of the estate dates from before 1948 and is older than the rest of the NHS estate.
"There have been significant advances and modernisations in mental health treatment over the last few years, and this money gives a further boost to our plans to remove all unsuitable mental health accommodation.
"I am very pleased to announce that £130 million has been made available to the NHS to go some way towards remedying the situation. It will help ensure that patients are treated in a safe and therapeutic environment, which for mental health patients is of the utmost importance.
"As the new Mental Health Bill starts to make its way through parliament, this money demonstrates the government's commitment to improving and reforming mental health services. In the last six years since the publication of the National Service Framework we have invested over a billion pounds more in mental health services and have put in place many of the improvements that we promised.
"The Bill strikes a delicate balance between protecting the public whilst greatly strengthening safeguards for patients. Part of this capital investment will go towards creating places of safety. This will help ensure that patients are treated with dignity and respect at all times."
Paul Corry, Director of Campaigns and Communications at Rethink, said:
"Police are too often left to pick up the pieces when people experience a mental health crisis, often detaining them in police stations under S.136 of the 1983 Mental Health Act. In some areas, police have already struck up strong local protocols to use mental health crisis centres rather than police stations. This welcome new announcement will bring the day closer when police stations are no longer used anywhere to house people in acute medical need."
The money will be allocated to SHAs from 2006 onwards.
1. Concern over the state of acute mental health inpatient environments has been repeatedly expressed by clinicians, NHS management, the voluntary sector and in the media. The mental health estate is much older than the remainder of the NHS with 34% dating from before 1948 compared to 18% for non-mental health trusts.
2. The money is available from 2006 onward. It can only be utilized if any revenue implications are affordable.
3. A psychiatric intensive care unit survey was carried out in autumn 2004. Returns were received for approximately 70% of the total estate. Over a third of PICUs and low secure units failed the audit on several critical, difficult or serious estate issues:
- 10% were not in single storey accommodation and 28% were not on the ground floor.
- 20% of units had more than 15 beds
- Only 35% had en-suite facilities.
- 55% do not have section 136 facilities.
- 25% have no enclosed gardens
- Almost 50% do not have seclusion facilities and 35% had no gender specific facilities.
UK Dept of Health
? 130 milioane de Investiþii de Sãnãtate Mintalã, Marea Britanie - £130 Million Investment For Mental Health, UK - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate