The CentreForum Mental Health Commission's "landmark study" on the state of mental health in England argues that "the mental wellbeing of the nation" should be a clear and measurable goal of government.
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UK Council for Pyschotherapy(UKCP) has welcomed the "ambitious" report. Chief Executive David Pink said he is "delighted to see wellbeing forming the centre piece of the Commission’s recommendations".
"UKCP has helped produced the evidence to show that current methods for assessing the impact of health conditions massively undervalue the importance of good mental health," he added. "The Treasury, the Department of Health and NICE must hear and act on this message. Embracing a subjective wellbeing approach has the potential to end the disparity in funding for mental health services. In the UK today, we know that over half of people suffering with mental illness go without treatment. In 2014 this is unacceptable; but by 2020 it will be unforgiveable."
The Commission’s findings and recommendations, after a year of study, draw on the expertise of chief executives of mental health charities, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and NHS and independent sector service providers.
Its report, Pursuit of Happiness, backed by senior Lib Dems, recommends a National Wellbeing Programme to promote mutual support, self-care and recovery, and reduce the stigma associated with mental ill health.
It also calls for priority investment in mental health of children from birth to adulthood, and parity of funding between mental and physical health.
Norman Lamb MP, Minister of State for Care and Support, said:
"I want to build a fairer society where mental health care is valued as much as physical health care. That’s why we’ve invested over £450 million in improving access to psychological therapies and we’ve launched a national agreement to improve crisis care.”
"This report highlights crucial principles that we need to adopt at a local and national level to improve mental health care and we will consider all its recommendations carefully. The Commission is doing valuable work to increase the momentum on achieving better mental health for everyone."
Mental health related sickness absence and lost productivity costs business up to £23.5bn a year.
The Commission says that government must take the lead in tackling this problem by ensuring all public sector enterprises become mental health friendly employers. It also urges organisations with more than 500 employees to work towards that status.
Other recommendations include better equipping primary care to identify and treat mental health problems, and closing the treatment gap that leaves one in four of the adult population suffering from depression and anxiety and one to two percent experiencing a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia.
The Commission also calls for parity of funding for mental health which currently receives 13% of NHS spend in England but accounts for 23% of demand. It is estimated that £13bn is overspent every year on dealing with the physical health consequences of this unmet need.
The Commission was chaired by Lib Dem MP Paul Burstow.
"Failure to promote good mental health not only ruins lives, it costs the economy £105bn every year," he said.
"There is no single simple change that will deliver better mental health. But making governments measure and value wellbeing as much as GDP would be an important step in the right direction. We then need bold action across the board so that we can see national wellbeing improving. We know what works in the workplace, in schools, in health services.
"Starving mental health services of investment is a massive false economy, building up more costs to the NHS, to social care, to welfare, to businesses and the economy."
On the need for mental health support from birth, Burstow said:
"The first signs of life long mental illness can be traced back to childhood for half of those with mental health problems. This is simply not good enough. We would not tolerate a hospital turning away a child with a broken leg or cancer, but that is the experience of children with mental health problems every day.
"We need to promote good mental health from the earliest opportunity, and make sure that schools, workplaces and the communities that we all live in are supporting us to be mentally well. The cost of doing nothing or simply settling for gradual change runs to billions of pounds, but the real cost is measured in human misery, misery for want of determination to act on the evidence."