Prime Minister pledges a revolution in mental health treatment
The Prime Minister announces almost a billion pounds of investment to enhance mental health services across the country.
- £290 million to provide specialist care to mums before and after having their babies
- first ever waiting time targets to be introduced for teenagers with eating disorders and people experiencing psychosis
- nearly £250 million for mental health services in hospital emergency departments
- over £400 million to enable 24/7 treatment in communities as safe and effective alternative to hospital
Read the Gov.uk press release here
Dr Jessica Heron, Senior Research Fellow in Perinatal Psychiatry at Birmingham University and Director of Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP), which provides information and support to women and families affected by the condition, says:
"APP Action on Postpartum Psychosis welcomes the Government’s announcement today of £290 million investment to provide specialist mental health care to mums before and after having their babies. This funding is desperately needed to help women suffering from maternal mental ill health, their partners and families, and improve health outcomes. The serious shortage of Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) nationally is a real concern in particular, and we hope the investment will help address this. Admission to an MBU allows mothers to keep their babies with them during treatment. Research conducted by APP on women with Postpartum Psychosis, a severe form of maternal mental illness affecting 1-2 births in every thousand, shows that women admitted to specialist MBUs report improved experience of care, feeling safer, more confident in the staff, more informed about their illness, feeling better supported on recovery, experience reduced time to full recovery, and feel more confident with their baby on discharge from care, than women admitted to General Psychiatric units. Yet nationally there are only half as many places in MBUs as needed. A report from the London School of Economics in 2014 estimated the costs of not having an adequate maternal mental health service at approximately £8 billion a year."