Portsmouth South MP delivers keynote address at Cathedral to mark start of Mental Health Awareness Week
The Government must match Labour’s pledge to ringfence mental health spending if they are to be taken seriously on mental health, says MP for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan.
Speaking at the opening of Hampshire Festival of the Mind at Portsmouth Cathedral, Mr Morgan said that ‘services are shrinking at a time when demand is rising’.
Analysis by the Royal College of Psychiatrist found that mental health services have less money to spend on patient care in real terms than they did in 2012 and the first part of the CQC’s Thematic Review found that children and young people are waiting up to 18 months to receive treatment for their mental health conditions.
Stephen Morgan MP, said:
‘It was a pleasure to speak at Portsmouth Festival of the Mind today.
Amidst all the problems we face, this event seeks to share information about what’s going on locally and celebrate the resilience and perseverance of small community and peer led projects alongside the larger agencies and organisations.
Mental health should be a top priority for Government. The Tories should follow Labour’s lead and commit to increase the proportion of the mental health budget spent on children and young people and ensure that access to a counselling service is available for all children in secondary schools’.
Hampshire Festival of the Mind takes place across Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, Gosport and Havant and runs until June. For more information, visit: http://goodmentalhealth.org.uk/hampshire-festival-of-the-mind/
