Mental Health Services — 7 Feb 2006 at 18:21

I beg to move,

That this House notes that one in four people will suffer mental health problems; is aware that mental health trusts are facing some of the largest cuts in planned budgets whilst already having to cope with worryingly high recruitment shortages; further notes that patients with mental illness are often denied real choice in their treatments due to long waiting times for referrals and an acute shortage of non-drug therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy; is alarmed at the particular problems experienced by black and minority ethnic patients in accessing services; is concerned at the continued absence of a Mental Health Bill almost four years after the first draft Bill was published; and calls on the Government to raise the relative importance of mental health within the NHS, making early intervention a priority in order to enable access to a range of appropriate services and urgently to publish a revised Mental Health Bill which recognises the rights and dignity of people with mental illness.

I beg to move, To leave out from 'House' to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:

"recognises that the Government has made mental health a key priority through the National Service Framework for Mental Health and the NHS plan; welcomes the achievements set out in the National Director's progress report published in December 2004; further welcomes the record increases in investment and staffing; notes that under this Government there are now over 700 specialised community mental health teams and that suicide rates are the lowest since records began, that there are 1,200 more consultant psychiatrists, over 3,000 more clinical psychologists, and 8,000 more mental health nurses than in 1997; further welcomes the Government's five year action plan to tackle inequalities in mental health services amongst black and ethnic minority communities and its action to tackle social exclusion in mental health; acknowledges the Government's commitment to early intervention to support good mental health and improve preventative mental health services in the community, as set out in the recent White Paper "Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services", including by improving public understanding of mental health issues to counteract stigma and discrimination, expanding access to psychological therapies including cognitive behavioural therapy, promoting the use of information technology recently reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence which supports people to take charge of their own treatment, and working with health professionals to improve standards in mental health services in the community; and further welcomes the Government's commitment to reform mental health legislation as soon as parliamentary time permits."

Question put, That the original words stand part of the Question:-

The House divided: Ayes 215, Noes 283.

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