NHS ‘improves mental health services’

The NHS has been congratulated on major improvements to its mental health services by care services minister Ivan Lewis.

Mr Lewis made his comments as he cut the turf to mark the beginning of construction on a new mental health unit at Runwell Hospital in Wickford, Essex.

Figures from last year show that specialist crisis teams provided 106,000 home treatments to people who would otherwise have been admitted to hospital – an 11 per cent increase on the previous year’s figures.

Early intervention teams treated 8,300 young people experiencing a first episode of psychosis – a 27 per cent increase – and assertive outreach teams supported 19,900 people with persistent mental health problems who prove hard to engage, an increase of nine per cent.

“This positive news demonstrates that frontline services are pulling together to improve the quality of care for people with mental health needs,” Mr Lewis commented.

Mr Lewis has been a member of parliament for Bury South since 1997.