The Guardian view on mental health: saving lives requires money and monitoring

More than 270 mental health patients have died over the last six years after failings in NHS care. These cases are more devastating to those who loved these people because in many cases the deaths could have been prevented; better care might have saved them. Too often, services did not respond to the concerns of GPs, families, and patients themselves. The Guardian’s figures, drawn from coroners’ warnings – known as reports to prevent future deaths – are if anything conservative. A forthcoming report on the issue from the NHS ombudsman is expected to raise similar issues.

There is no doubt that services are overstretched. In one in six of the cases, coroners linked the deaths to the lack of staff, beds and specialist services, or to long delays for treatment. Mental health services have been desperately underfunded for too long, and the promised increase in spending is insufficient given the historic shortfall and the surge in demand.


Source : theguardian