MP Jon Ashworth: I'll be a mental health champion
I recently hosted a mental health summit at the Town Hall in Leicester. Although I often disagree with the Government, I do agree with the sentiment of its strategy document No Health Without Mental Health.
The aim of this document is to improve the mental health and well-being of the nation and to improve outcomes for people with mental health problems through high-quality services.
I believe if services are to improve the lives of people suffering from mental illnesses and their carers, they have to be what are needed and wanted.
In November I held a pre-summit event which 60 mental health service users and their carers attended, along with representatives from voluntary sector organisations. A key finding was that clinical and health services alone are not enough.
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There is also a need for social support, whether it is supported housing, drop-in facilities or various types of learning and educational activities.
The role of the voluntary and community sector and its relationship to the statutory sector are key to providing this.
Although the Government says it wants to improve the outcomes for people with mental health problems, its austerity programme, including its savage cuts to our city council's funding, is making it more difficult to provide the high-quality social support services needed and wanted by service users and carers.
Despite the sentiment expressed in No Health Without Mental Health, the other parts of the Government's austerity programme can lead to more people suffering from mental illnesses or the illness becoming more severe.
It is well known mental illness is associated with social exclusion, deprivation, domestic violence, low income, unemployment, poor housing and low educational attainment.
Given this context, I am therefore concerned about the effects of cuts to benefits and tax credits, cuts to the public sector and cuts to public funding to social housing, leading to less refurbished and new accommodation.
The estimated number of people in Leicester with serious and enduring mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other psychosis, is about 3,400.
The estimated number of people with anxiety and depression is about 30,000. Prescriptions for anti-depressant medications are increasing.
These numbers are clearly too high and may yet rise given the Government's agenda.
We must do what we can in Leicester to improve the lives of people with mental health problems through high-quality services and support.
The summit brought together representatives from the organisations making the decisions about mental health provision and they heard how the benefits of social support should not be underestimated.
The summit must have a legacy and provide the services wanted and needed by mental health service users and carers.
As a part of this legacy, I will be a local champion for mental health, raising issues with the Government, the council, the clinical commissioning group and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust on behalf of the voluntary and community sector.
If You would like to contact Jon Ashworth MP, telephone 0116 251 1927 or e-mail him at:
jon.ashworth.mp@parliament.co.uk
5 Comments
by NickDiPerna1
Friday, March 15 2013, 10:19PM
“Any public funding has to be proportional to the problem. This open chequebook approach is not the answer when ordinary working people are struggling just to survive.
Some of the heads of these mental health 'charities' drive around in sports cars.
From my own personal experience, I've found that those who really care give real voluntary time with personal hands-on effort and discretion. Not showy self-congratulatory displays of superior virtue using other people's money. Dig into your own pockets if you really care Jon.”
by DBLeicester
Friday, March 15 2013, 5:31PM
“MP Jon Ashworth - Put your money where your mouth is then, and stop the Council cutting front line services whilst paying heads of service tens of thousands of pounds!”
by Kohelet
Friday, March 15 2013, 4:55PM
“Mental health provision has always had the cinderella slipper. How much more in times of austerity”
by PLYMFOX01
Friday, March 15 2013, 4:45PM
“Its amazing how politicians change their tune when in opposition. The present government inherited a huge trade deficit from the previous Labour administration who presided over the banking crisis and failed to regulate the bankers here in the UK. They also spent money like it was going out of fashion.
Now all you hear from the same Labour politicians is "these cuts are savage and awful etc etc". Ok no one likes to see cutbacks but the country does not and never will have a bottomless pit of money. (Some councls including Leicester City think they can spend lavish amounts on projects that in reailty are unaffordable in the present climate).”
by democrat
Friday, March 15 2013, 8:12AM
“No mention of Labour's failure to build enough social housing and no mention of Labour's plans to reduce provision for the homeless in Leicester.
Jon - it is nice to see that your are worried about austerity (not there is much of that going on) but perhaps you should have thought about that when you were advising the last Labour Government (I know that you don't like to talk about it much though)”