Annual review 2001

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health completed a very successful year in 2001 holding a number of meetings on issues of concern to mental health service users and professionals. The main points that came out of each of the meetings are summarised below. Please see overleaf for the Group’s conclusions.

November 2000 Helen Kay of the Mental Health Foundation addressed the Group about a report issued by the MHF entitled ‘Bright Futures’. The report set out its vision of a greater priority and emphasis being given to promoting good mental health amongst children and young people. The Group learnt that there was an increasing number of youngsters experiencing mental health problems with huge consequences on both a personal level and to society as a whole.

December 2000 David Hinchliffe MP, Chair of the Health Select Committee, spoke to the Group about the Committee’s recent report on ‘The Provision of NHS Mental Health Services’. Many members of the Committee had the impression that people were being treated in the wrong part of the system. The report had made many recommendations including that the Special Hospitals be closed and replaced by 8 smaller units, that the proposals on ‘Dangerous Severe Personality Disorder’ needed more research and that there should be a greater level of user involvement in the mental health system and policy making.

January 2001 A consultant psychiatrist specialising in the care of elderly people addressed the Group at the suggestion of Julia Drown MP. Dr Roger Bullock, from the Victoria Hospital in Swindon, spoke about his concerns about the use and affordability of mental health drugs. 11% of his budget was spent on drugs and this was often a target when budgets had to be cut. Psychiatry as a whole needed to consider how it allocated revenue and to review prescribing in relation to primary care. Gary Hogman from the National Schizophrenia Fellowship also spoke at the meeting about a recent survey ‘A Question of Choice’. One-quarter of respondents had not been consulted about their medicine and 62% were not offered alternatives.

March 2001 The Minister of State for Health, John Hutton MP, was invited to talk about the Government’s White Paper ‘Reforming the Mental Health Act’. He reminded the Group that mental health would remain a Government priority. There had been a long-term financial neglect of mental health services and the Mental Health Act 1983 needed updating to take account of modern practice. The aim of any new Act would be to reduce the number of those treated compulsorily and new Tribunals would have to agree a care and treatment plan for every individual to protect their rights. He also informed the Group about a new anti-stigma campaign which was to be launched by the Department of Health and would begin by focusing on stigma against people with mental health problems in the workplace.

Conclusions

1. The All-Party Parliamentary Group believes there should be an end to ‘postcode prescribing’ for mental health drugs. Treatment should be based on the needs of patients and not cost.
2. Greater discussion is needed between medical professionals and service users about choices of treatment when mental health drugs are being prescribed. Other treatments should be offered where appropriate.
3. The mental health needs of youngsters need to be properly assessed and treated. If problems are treated earlier the consequences for the person and of course society as a whole can be ameliorated considerably.
4. There is a chronic shortage of appropriately skilled professionals in almost every aspect of children’s mental health and this needs to be addressed if services are to improve. Funding for child and adolescent mental health services needs to be protected and enhanced.
5. Any new Mental Health Act should specifically aim to produce a reduction in the numbers of people treated compulsorily which was a stated aim in the White Paper ‘Reforming the Mental Health Act’. If adequate resources are not available for the care of those with mental health needs when they are not emergencies, the extension of compulsory care into community settings could have the reverse effect.
6. There should be no place in mental health legislation for criminal justice measures regarding people with ‘dangerous severe personality disorder’. The dividing line between personality disorder and mental illness is artificial and often defined for convenience to avoid providing individuals with care. We remain concerned that the tenor of Government statements emphasises ‘protection of the public’ rather than the rights to appropriate care for the one in four people who will suffer from mental health problems at some point in their lives.
7. The All-Party Group would welcome an updated policy statement on reform of the Mental Health Act. The White Paper is now one year old and we understand that some of the proposals may have been amended or developed. It is important that all interested groups and the public are kept fully informed about the reform process.
8. The All-Party Group supports the Government’s anti-stigma campaign ‘Mind-out for Mental Health’, announced by John Hutton MP at our meeting in March and recognises that this needs to be sustained over a long period to have any lasting impact.

PROGRAMME FOR 2002

The All-Party Group held its first meeting of this year on 22 January with Prof. Louis Appleby, National Director of Mental Health, as the speaker. Details of this meeting will be sent to Members shortly.
Future meetings will be on Psychotherapy and talking treatments (March); benefits and mental health (May); mental health care for prisoners (2 July) and the role of the mental health professional (November). There will be also be an event in Speaker’s House on Tuesday 22 October. Further details of these meetings will be finalised soon.