Official data currently states one in four adults and one in 10 children experience mental illness but barely a week goes by without a new report about this nation’s worsening mental health.
The NHS Mental Health Bulletin 2021-22 annual report reveals over three million people were known to be in contact with secondary mental health, learning disabilities and autism services at some point in the year. Year on year, this is an increase of 16.2%.
Whilst the Mental Health Investment Standard has continued to be met nationally and regionally, these statistics clearly show that demand for services is outstripping supply of funding and resources.
Significant variation across the country regarding the money that local authorities and NHS systems have to spend on mental health means that the support a person receives is dependent on where they live, and even less accessible if they belong to a marginalised community.
The report suggests over half of UK adults report feeling either anxious, depressed, and/or unable to cope due to concerns about their finances. It goes on to say one in six people have experienced suicidal thoughts or feelings as a result of the rise in the cost of living this year.
Today, more than ever before, we are facing a crisis in our community’s mental health and in the provision of services by the VCSE (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise).
Data has long played a role in how public services respond to complex problems, yet until now there has been a significant gap in the ability to link VCSE, independent and NHS mental health provision.
Our national network of over 300 care and support providers has shared with us their service information. In partnership with mapping and spatial data analytics experts Esri, we have created a visual resource to show where mental health services are located and the gaps in provision.
Through this tool, we can bring together a community of practice to provide our integrated care system partners the ‘weapon’ to tackle this inequality and the ability to clearly see the impact of solutions which focus on place-based access to mental health services. Our data shows 844 active CQC-registered services providing mental health care and support across the country. However, we wanted to move beyond the lens of the NHS and the regulator. This data does not include individuals accessing services through non-clinical pathways.
We have mapped 1538 mental health service locations across the country.
Our mapping tool provides details of our 696 Association members, whose combined annual turnover is £5.02bn, plus other small VSCE mental health organisations that deliver extensive support to address health inequalities at place level.
These VCSE organisations are providing vital, sometimes lifesaving services, for one in eight people across the UK, preventing conditions from deteriorating
and/or relapse. Collectively we challenge inequality and injustice locally, regionally and nationally, and the VCSE sector provides the diverse range of mental health care services our country needs every day.
In Poverty, economic inequality and mental health, our Associate member, the Centre for Mental Health, found rates of depression, serious mental illness, and suicide (not to mention nearly every physical illness and injury) worsen with increased poverty and deprivation.
Clearly now with our data, even in some of the most deprived areas of the country, such as North and East London, Greater Manchester, we have not harnessed the full power of VCSE provision through effective communication or commissioning practices to appropriately serve the needs of these communities.
If more people could access the mental health care and support they needed close to home, undoubtedly there would be less pressure on acute and crisis services and urgent care within the NHS.
Nobody should be told they are too complex to be seen, because this goes beyond the impact on health services; poor mental health affects the economy.
The Health and Safety Labour Force Survey (LFS) found stress, depression or anxiety accounted for £17m lost due to work-related ill health in 2021/22.
Through our campaign ‘Mental Health Equality Now’, we are calling on the Government to protect and promote the Nation’s mental health by;
- Recognising the VCSE Mental Health sector as critical to the nation’s health and care.
- Utilising our knowledge and expertise, by knowing who we are, what we do and where we are.
- Ensuring the VCSE Mental Health sector has sustainable ongoing and future funding.
- Enabling everyone in every community to have fair and equal access to mental health services and support.