The government has met its target of recruiting 8,500 additional mental health workers three years ahead of its schedule.
It began hiring therapists, psychiatrists, mental health nurses and support staff in June 2024, and they have now been posted across NHS trusts and community health services in England.
This will help people access mental health services sooner and closer to home, cutting waiting times, and get support before their condition worsens.
Improving mental health care is in line with the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, which aims to bring care closer to the community.
This year, NHS mental health spending is forecast to increase to a record £16.1 billion, a real-terms increase of around £140 million compared to last year.
On top of this, the government is investing an additional £473 million in mental health infrastructure by 2030 to modernise facilities.
Around one in five adults in England (an estimated 9.4 million) are now affected by a common mental health condition, but high demand and subsequent long waits has historically been a significant barrier to people seeking support.
An independent review into mental health, ADHD and autism is underway, which will seek to identify how government, the health system and wider public services can respond to increasing demand for support more fairly and effectively.
The newly passed Mental Health Act is a crucial step in ensuring people with severe mental health conditions receive better, more personalised treatment.
RCN survey
However, a recent Royal College of Nursing survey said mental health nurses are unable to keep up with rising demand and patients often miss out on crucial care, The Guardian reports.
Half of the nurses who responded to the RCN union’s UK-wide survey said that caseloads are too high, and time pressures lead to patient deterioration, relapse or self-harm.
The poll suggests that demand for services has grown more than twice as fast as the number of nurses in the field.
Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, told the daily, “With too few staff, overwhelming caseloads and excessive admin, community mental health nursing teams are caught in a perfect storm.”
