The NHS has neglected mental health healthcare allowed the private sector to introduce so-called 'talking therapies' - a 6 week course of conversation over the phone, with no personal counsellor appointments with an actual qualified mental health counsellor at worst, or over remote services such as Zoom, Skype, or GoTo.

These contracts are usually part of local council services, and NOT NHS based services. Indeed adult psychiatry departments in Hospitals taking out-patient appointments, seems only for previously in-patients;whilst majority of those needing mental health support are referred by GPs to the private sector which can mean waiting up to 12 months to be assessed, let alone actually seen.

Given that the NHS is no longer a 'national' service but a simply badge used by 42 autonomous US styled Integrated Care Systems controlled by a board (ICB) of mainly local business leaders with few actually medically qualified individuals; the situation across the 42 ICS lends itself to the US healthcare principle of 'denial of healthcare' in order to make profit as promoted by US company Kaiser Permanante; the situation across the UK is one of total disconnection of patient needs, and is a postcode lottery by design!

Mind and trade unions and other mental health pressure groups have been demanding changes and have made it clear that we are currently suffering an epidemic of suicides, caused by the totally inadequate mental health services for adults and children provided in the UK.

With Labour now refusing to repeal the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the Health Care Act 2022, the privatisation of healthcare services in the UK will continue unabated, and in fact accelerated by Wes Streeting and the return of Alan Milburn, Blair's propagator of PFI and privatisation of the NHS which he started with the creation of NHS Foundation Trusts and allowing the private sector to increase provision of NHS services.

NHS Trusts and the 42 ICS/IBS have been ordered by NHS England which runs the NHS in England, which answers to no one, and is not part of the remit of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the responsibility of which was removed by the two above mentioned pieces of legislation; to ensure All contracts are put out to tender and that GP practises do NOT employ more GPs, but Physician Associates instead. Additional funding for those practices doing so will be made by NHS England.

The charity, MIND, has a campaign to pressure the Labour Government to improve mental health care, which stresses the above main 5 points required to change the inadequate mental health outcomes and suicide rates in England.

You can download their campaign document from the Unionsafety E-Library here

Further information can be obtained from the Mind website