Report suggests “variable” funding levels for prison mental health in England
A study into the provision of mental health services in England has been published this week by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health in collaboration with Lincoln University.
The authors of “Short-changed – spending on prison mental health care” draw attention to “substantial regional variation” in mental health spending per prisoner, ranging from a low of £182 in the East Midlands and the South West to a high of £416 in London.
“It is hard to avoid the conclusion that standards of mental health care in prisons vary substantially depending solely on location,” the report concludes.
Many people from Wales are imprisoned across the border; in fact, there is no prison for women in Wales.
Researchers also found that around 4,700 prisoners in English jails received support from mental health in-reach teams – far fewer than the one in 12 of the 80,000 prison population that need such services.
To read or download the full report, click here.
Study looks ahead at next 20 years of English mental health spending
A major new study by the King’s Fund into the cost of meeting mental health needs in England over the next two decades is published this week.
“Paying the Price” predicts that levels of most mental illness, including schizophrenia, will stay stable but that there will be a “huge increase” in cases of dementia, leading to a growth in the bill for mental health services in England from £22.5bn in 2007 to £47bn in 2026.
Niall Dickson, King’s Fund Chief Executive, said: ‘The fact that we are living longer is a cause for celebration but it will mean that the health and social care systems will have to cope with a dramatic increase in the number of people suffering from dementia. Unless there is a major breakthrough in drugs to arrest the course of this illness, there will be a great need for extra care and support, some of it quite intense.”
To read or download the full report, click here.