Norman Lamb is the Minister for Care and Support Services for the NHS a post he has held since September 2012. He came into office at the end of a year when the NHS mental health trust for the area in which he is MP sent 22 people out of the area because of a shortage of bed spaces. Two years later the figures just published show that 90 people have been sent out of the area. His area is not alone. Across the country as a whole mental health trusts sent 3,024 mental health patients out-of-area in 2013-14, up 33% from 2012-13 and more than double the 1,301 sent in 2011-12. In the period since April 2011, 1,700 mental health beds have been removed from the system across the UK due to funding cuts. This year, 2014/15 the NHS is imposing 20% higher cuts on the mental health bed spaces than for acute hospitals. More details of these statistics can be found here.

Mental health issues are not always easy to speak about. Whilst I would not hesitate to mention in a blog that someone in my immediate family has Arthritis, I am much more cautious about mentioning that someone in our close family suffers from Schizophrenia. Both people are cared for to varying degrees within the NHS. The person with Arthritis is not as mobile as they would like to be, they don’t announce their illness when they meet people for the first time, but there is no stigma if the subject does come up. Indeed some people become a great deal more animated when the subject arises. Although the NHS has provided some treatment, it is clear that a great deal more could be available, but the limitation to being treated is almost entirely based on the services available. There is no stigma to having Arthritis. On the other hand the person with Schizophrenia would not want this to be discussed, they are not interested in being treated further than the medication which was last reviewed a decade ago. When the conditions are creating particular problems for the people concerned, one person is able to express their pain and dis-ease leading to sympathy and offers of practical help. The other does not speak about their condition, but perhaps due to social inadequacy, the impact of their condition on those around them leads to embarrassment and a lack of certainty on how to act.

If the person with Schizophrenia was to require a medical intervention, the catalysts for this would be those who care for the person concerned, not the person themselves. This decision will not be taken lightly because the ‘patient’ will be very distressed by their illness and even more distressed by the decision being taken by a carer. The carer however would find this decision a great deal more difficult if they know that there is a good chance that their call for help will lead to the ‘patient’ being removed from the area and possibly expected to be taken 100’s of miles away from the home location. On the other hand if the person suffering from arthritis was to be asked to visit a hospital many miles away for treatment there would be no great anxiety. Whilst mental health services are not easy to talk about, my own view is that they should not suffer cuts that are any deeper than acute services are suffering from. It is time for Norman Lamb to staunch the pressure on these vital services, even if they may not lead to votes for the coalition (the person with Schizophrenia is unlikely to vote for anyone).