A new network of community mental health clinics in England has been announced this week. This development comes as A&E departments have reported an increase in difficult-to-manage symptoms, including aggression and hallucinations, among children and young people.
Alongside the new specialist walk-in services, a deadline for ending out-of-area acute placements has been brought forward. There is also a pledge to reduce waiting times for children.
Declining mental health was identified as a key theme in Alan Milburn's interim report on young people and work, and is cited as a factor in the rise of claims for illness and disability benefits. Children's anxiety and other psychological difficulties are also noted as challenges for schools, with recent years seeing increases in emotionally based school avoidance, autism, and neurodiversity.
Despite concerns about mental health being shared across government, policies from the health department have not always prominently featured them, partly due to other issues like social care and hospital waiting lists. Ministers have also been awaiting recommendations from a review led by Prof Peter Fonagy into mental health conditions, ADHD, and autism, which are expected soon and will inform an upcoming strategy.
The commitment to expand community mental health services aligns with a policy goal of parity between mental and physical healthcare, first set in 2011. However, doubts have been raised by experts, including Siva Anandaciva of the King's Fund, regarding the NHS's commitment to shifting resources away from hospital care, as proposed in last year's 10-year health strategy. This week, it was revealed that a mental health trust in east London plans to make £230m of cuts. Mental health is not ringfenced within NHS budgets, and its proportion of overall health spending decreased from 9.0% in 2023/24 to 8.78% in 2024/25.