Vicki Ensor

Mental health waiting lists: Amy has complex PTSD but has seen a psychiatrist once in 10 years Twelve times more mental health patients are waiting more than 18 months for treatment than those with physical health conditions in England, data analysis shows.

Our exclusive analysis for BBC News has revealed a stark inequality between mental and physical healthcare.

People like Amy are having their lives put on hold as they wait for support.

We need to see action 👇
bbc.in/40STKiV

Poverty of Ambition: Why we need bold action to tackle poverty and improve mental health This briefing report provides evidence on the relationship between poverty and mental health, and how our mental health is shaped by the wide-ranging characteristics of the social, economic, and physi...

Our new report, published alongside the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, sets out the links between poverty and poor mental health www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/pol...

We'll be continuing to raise this with parliamentarians as they debate the government's deeply flawed proposals on welfare reform.

The argument is that this will improve the patient voice (or indeed the staff voice)? It is not brilliant now but how does this improve things? Am I missing something?

On a light blue background text reads "We are deeply saddened to hear that the Government has decided to close Healthwatch. Over the last 12 years its hard working staff and volunteers have led vital work driving improvement in the NHS by connecting into local communities and giving millions of people a way to share their concerns". To the bottom left corner text reads 'Jacob Lant, Chief Executive on the closure of Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch organisations'. To the bottom right corner is the National Voices logo.

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Our Chief Executive, @jacoblant.bsky.social, previously Head of Policy, Public Affairs, and Research at @healthwatchengland.bsky.social, has responded to the Government’s decision to close Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch organisations.

Continue reading for his full response👇

One in four young people in England have mental health condition, NHS survey finds Rates are three times as high in young women as in young men and mental ill health up across age groups, study shows Sharp rises in rates of anxiety, depression and other disorders have led to one in four young people in England having a common mental health condition, an NHS survey shows, with young women three times more likely than men to report them. The study found that rates of such conditions in 16- to 24-year-olds have risen by more than a third in a decade, from 18.9% in 2014 to 25.8% in 2024. More than a fifth (22.6%) of adults aged 16 to 64 have a common mental health condition, up from 18.9% in 2014. More than one in four adults (25.2%) reported having had suicidal thoughts during their lifetime, including about a third of 16- 24-year-olds (31.5%) and 25- to 34-year-olds (32.9%). Self-harm rates have quadrupled since 2000 and risen from 6.4% in 2014 to 10.3% in 2024, with the highest rates among 16- to 24-year-olds at 24.6%, especially young women at 31.7%. Continue reading...

One in four young people in England have mental health condition, NHS survey finds

An older Black man is sitting in a wheelchair in a relaxed space having a cup of tea and a slice of cake. He is smiling and in conversation with another older person. Text: Growing the grassroots: The impact of South East London Mind's engagement with voluntary and community organisations

📢 New report: Larger charities can tackle mental health inequalities by working alongside grassroots organisations 👇

Our evaluation of @selmindcharity.bsky.social‬'s programme shows how grant funding enabled community groups to effectively support marginalised communities: tinyurl.com/y8z6979y

Screenshot of Vicky's letter to the Prime Minister (page 1)

Screenshot of Vicky's letter to the Prime Minister (page 2)

(1/2) With a heavy heart, I have written to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as a whip.

Whilst I will continue to support the government in delivering the change the country so desperately needs, I cannot vote in favour of the proposed reforms to disability benefits.

Sign Mind's open letter: end racial inequality in the Mental Health Act We're calling on MPs to take urgent action to end racial inequality in the use of the Mental Health Act. Join us and sign the open letter today

Right now a group of MPs are scrutinising the Mental Health Bill. I’ve signed the @mind.org.uk‬ open letter calling on them to take action to end racial inequality in the Mental Health Act. Will you join me and sign the open letter too?
campaigns.mind.org.uk/page/172559/...

Royal College of Psychiatrists says it cannot yet support assisted dying bill

We know what helps: decent pay, safe, affordable housing, strong communities, and support when people need it. It’s time politicians stopped blaming the most vulnerable and started facing the facts. 3/3

A screenshot of a news article with the headline "Nigel Farage claims UK is 'massively overdiagnosing' mental illness". The subheading reads "Reform leader claims GPs creating a 'class of victims' in elections speech." We've crossed out 'claims UK' and 'over-diagnosing' and replaced the latter with 'over-stigmatising' so the new headline reads "Nigel Farage is massively over-stigmatising mental illness". Above it is the headline, in Mind font, "Here we go again..."

Let’s be real – the facts are the real victims here. They keep being overlooked in favour of fuelling culture wars. 1/3

Mental health struggles are shaped by our society – things like poverty, job insecurity, and a lack of support. But instead of asking what's driving an increase in mental health problems, our politicians choose to demonise those who are struggling most in our society. 2/3

Ministers - more health checks are not game changing, actual action on public health would be game changing

as per @sebrees1.bsky.social & co bsky.app/profile/sebr...

and
@felly500.bsky.social hsj.co.uk/policy-and-r...

and @swoolnoughtkf.bsky.social
hsj.co.uk/service-rede...

Changing the mental health paradigm While there’s a shared wish to change mental health services, this isn't often followed by the resource to make it happen, writes Victor Adebowale.

"Mental health is either attacked as a symptom of the ‘woke’ agenda or acknowledged as relevant to both social wellbeing and the wider economy, without always being followed up by real actions that create change."

Read our chair Victor's full blog on changing the mental health paradigm. 🔗 💡

Government accused of ‘failing’ mental health patients as share of NHS budget to fall The drop comes despite warnings of a deepening mental health crisis

Yesterday, the UK government confirmed that mental health spending as a share of the NHS budget fell last year in England - and is set to fall again next year. 1/3

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mental-health-nhs-funding-wes-streeting-b2723146.html

Exclusive: Govt admits cutting mental health spend share The proportion of the NHS budget spent on mental health services is being cut for the first time in several years, the government will admit to Parliament, HSJ has learned.

The proportion of the NHS budget spent on mental health services is being cut for the first time in several years, the government will admit to Parliament, HSJ has learned.
www.hsj.co.uk/mental-healt...

'The fiscal outlook requires difficult choices, but the decisions taken in today’s Spring Statement will hit some of the most vulnerable people the hardest and risk damaging the nation's health and future prosperity.' Dr Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive at the Health Foundation

Responding to today’s Spring Statement, our Chief Executive, Jennifer Dixon says the Chancellor's cuts risk compromising people's health, with changes to benefits that will leave many people worse off, in worse health and less able to return to work.

Read our full response ⬇️

buff.ly/YZ6EXKJ

Poor mental health costs £118bn. Benefit cuts are not the answer The Mental Health Foundation argues that the cost of cutting disability benefits will be greater than the savings.

On what the government has got wrong in its reforms of the benefit system: www.bigissue.com/opinion/ment...

Mental health support • Mind runs a support line on 0300 102 1234 as a safe and confidential place to talk openly. It also has an information line, on 0300 123 3393, for details of where to get help near you. And its welfare benefits line – 0300 222 5782 – supports anyone with mental health problems who is navigating the benefits system. • Samaritans is there to talk to you for free 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call them on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. • The disability charity Scope has a forum where you can chat in a supportive atmosphere to people going through the same experiences. • NHS England has an online mental health triage service.

Benefits support • The Trussell Trust's Help through Hardship helpline, on 0808 208 2138, is a free and confidential phone service offered alongside Citizens Advice that provides advice to people experiencing hardship. You can also find your local Trussell Trust food bank here. • Benefits and Work provides guides, forums and newsletters to help people navigate the benefits system and get the support they are entitled to. This includes benefit applications and appeals. • Turn2Us provides a free benefits calculator to help you find out what benefits you can claim, as well as a grants search service and a Pip Helper to assist you in applying for the benefit. • The Law Centres website helps people find their local service for benefits support and more, while Advicelocal provides a search directory tool to find your local advice provider.

I know coverage of disability benefits can be very distressing. So, I’ve worked with colleagues to make a range of support visible on The Guardian’s site.

If you click on a relevant news story, you’ll see a “drop box” of signposted mental health help as well as benefits advice.

Text graphic: Evidence shows that when governments tighten benefit rules, people’s mental health gets worse. If more people fall into poverty, both the prevalence and severity of mental ill health is likely to rise.

Reducing entitlements to disability or incapacity benefits will do nothing to raise living standards or help more people into employment.

Access to both of these benefits is essential for people’s mental health - restricting them will undermine their very purpose.

Listening to the Tim Harford radio 4 doc about how children suffered from a lockdown imposed to protect adults, straight after a news bulletin full of 'young people with MH problems need to get back to work to save us all a fortune' is I have to say fairly jarring

Cutting benefits is short sighted. The UK government needs to shift focus and tackle the real barriers to employment.

Sir, The proposed benefit reforms you report ("Im to have disability benefit cut by Labour", Mar 15) appear designed to target people with mental health problems, based on the flawed belief that mental health problems come with lower additional costs. Reducing PIP (personal independence payment) for people with mental health problems means taking away access to additional therapies, limiting people's ability to get to work or appointments, and removing the support for basic daily living that people often need. Cutting benefits doesn't make mental problems or the costs to the state disappear. For many it means being driven into poverty, which we know is toxic for mental health.

The result is worsening physical and mental health, a shifting of costs to other parts of the system such as A&E, and moving people further from the chance of being able to work. The government talks of a moral case for improving the support and incentives for people to return to work. But that does not mean there is a moral case to arbitrarily cut the financial support that is a lifeline for so many. People with mental health problems have felt deeply concerned in recent days, as they hear about potentially major changes to their lives. I hope the government will listen to MPs and organisations like the Mind federation. Such reforms would be shortsighted and counterproductive in the extreme. Dr Sarah Hughes

Excellent letter in The Times from the CEO of Mind.

So concerning that Labour would rather stick doggedly to its ruinous red lines on Brexit than protect those on (already strictly assessed) disability benefits. Preferring punishment of its citizens to any serious attempt at improving prosperity.

What mental illnesses are being ‘over diagnosed’ and who by? And what effect is that supposedly having on claims for PIP which uses a functional not diagnostic test? It’s so important that public & political debates about mental health, illness and social security are informed by robust evidence

Dear Chancellor, We are writing to you as a collection of charities to urge you to think again about cuts to disability benefits. Disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and the Limited Capability for Work Amount, can be a lifeline for disabled households and can enable people who receive PIP to work. Making cuts to disability benefits would have a catastrophic impact on disabled people up and down the country. Scope’s analysis of government figures shows that without PIP, a further 700,000 more disabled households could be pushed into poverty. Life costs more for disabled people. Huge numbers already live in poverty as a result of these extra costs. The impact of any cuts to disability benefits would be devastating. We agree with the government’s ambition to support more disabled people into work. However, making cuts to disability benefits will not achieve this goal or fix the system. In fact, there is little evidence to suggest cutting benefits increases employment outcomes. We know the benefits system is broken and needs reform. That there are disabled people out of work who want to work given the right support. And for some disabled people work isn’t appropriate. Changes to welfare must start here. Not with cuts. The government has an opportunity to work with disabled people and the sector to bring about meaningful change. We want disabled people to be heard and supported by the government. The needs and voices of the disability community should be at the heart of the government’s plans. Disabled people should not be an afterthought. We would urge you to safeguard disability benefits from cuts, we fear the cost of cuts is too great. Yours sincerely, Scope, Mind, Citizens Advice, RNIB, Sense, Guide Dogs, Disability Rights UK, Trussell, Mencap, MS Society, Parkinson’s UK, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, National Autistic Society, Inclusion Barnet, Thomas Pocklington Trust, Z2K, Turn2Us

We're in your corner 💙

This week, we wrote to Rachel Reeves. And our CEO, Sarah Hughes, met with the minister in charge of disability benefits to raise our concerns. 1/2