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MP calls for Government to do more to address mental health in Portsmouth

By 23 February 2018No Comments

Portsmouth MP Stephen Morgan has called for more to be done to support people with mental health services in the city.
This call comes after the revelation that Solent NHS Trust is one of only nine mental health trusts in England to have suffered a year on year decline in its income (in real terms).
The trust, according to new research published this week from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, has seen its income fall from £ 210,139,000 in 2011/12, to £180,675,000 in 2016/17 and has seen its income fall every year since 2012.
Mental health trusts across the country have less money to spend on patient care in real terms than they did in 2012, and there are fears within the sector that some of that money is failing to reach the frontline.
This is despite the Government’s assertion that mental health spending is at “record” levels.
It comes as demand for services soars, with some trusts saying a lack of funds has forced them to cut services.
Stephen Morgan, MP said:
“I want the people of Portsmouth to be able to get the best possible mental health treatment when they need it, and where they need it.
Whilst I welcome initiatives by local agencies to provide a new hub to support mental health service provision in the city, I call on the Government to do more and to fund our mental health trusts properly.
For our local mental health trust to have had their funding cut every year for five years goes completely against government’s plans to properly fund mental health trusts.”

Professor Wendy Burn, the College’s president, said:
“It is totally unacceptable that when more and more people are coming forward with mental health problems, trusts are receiving less investment than they did five years ago.”
“Patients with mental illness continue to bear the brunt of an underfunded sector experiencing unprecedented demand with limited supply.
“Prioritisation of mental health is about getting the right care, at the right time, in the right place. This can’t happen when mental health trusts continue to receive inadequate investment.”