The Reader: Mental health referral backlog must be sorted

Spending Review
Rishi Sunak has pledged a  £500 million package to support mental health services
PA
26 November 2020
WEST END FINAL

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Rishi Sunak has pledged a  £500 million package to support mental health services and has outlined plans to tackle the backlog of adult mental health referrals after increased demand for support during the pandemic.  

The funding is recognition of the immense strain the pandemic has placed on people’s mental health, in the same way it has devastated many livelihoods and businesses.  

However, funding is just the first step. We must now consider how the money is best distributed, especially as we don’t fully understand the long-term psychiatric impact of Covid.  

What’s absolutely crucial is that part of the funding is deployed to tackle the backlog of mental health referrals.  

We need tight performance management in place so organisations that receive funding are clear about how they will address the backlog and ensure that the right support is reaching the people who need it.

Dr Alice Parshall

Editor’s reply

Dear Alice

Despite the joyous news of the apparent success of the Oxford vaccine and others, we are facing a very difficult winter, with Covid restrictions and working from home (or, worse, unemployment) combining with bleak weather to create a fertile ground for mental ill health. NHS funding boosts are welcome but can take months to take effect. In the interim, we must all do what we can to protect our own mental wellbeing, ideally aided by proactive employers.

Ross Lydall, Health Editor

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It is wonderful that a coronavirus vaccine is close, but uptake may be limited by suspicion fuelled by conspiracy theories. A strategy of explanation and reassurance is vital to maximise its coverage. Conspiracy theories are very good at brainwashing. Science must get equally good at explaining the evidence-based reality.

Daniel Emlyn-Jones

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