Alongside a coalition of 36 organisations, representing people living with mental illness and other disabilities, the Association has co-signed a joint letter to the Prime Minister urging the government to adopt a strategy that addresses the root causes of rising mental ill-health, suicide, and people out of work. Read the full letter below.

Dear Prime Minister, 

Your Government has inherited a crisis in mental health. Suicide is at its highest level since 1999, self-harm among young people has climbed by over a third, and numbers being diagnosed with severe mental illnesses continue to rise. 

This is having a substantial impact on society and the economy, not least contributing to the high number of people out of work due to their mental health. We recognise your genuine desire to make progress on this issue, and are keen to support you in tackling the twin beasts of worsening illness and economic inactivity. The only long term way to do this is to address causes rather than symptoms. We are concerned that cuts to disability benefits do not address the causes of the problem and may exacerbate them. We are also worried that, despite some positives such as the retention of the Mental Health Investment Standard, overall NHS projections now show the proportion of spending on mental health is falling year on year.

To grab this crisis by the horns and drive progress, we are calling on the Government to implement a cross-departmental mental health strategy, aimed at identifying and addressing the causes of the growing national mental health crisis. This would join up thinking across education, online safety, health, welfare and other areas, in a way that cannot be delivered solely through the NHS 10 year plan. The mental health sector can assist in providing the very best evidence to support your decision making and deliver the best results. We applaud your mission-led approach to government as a way of embedding focused, joined up thinking, and a mental health strategy can be included as part of the existing health, growth, or barriers to opportunity missions, to avoid setting up any additional bureaucracy and help to hit the ground running. 

A crucial first step will be prioritising waiting lists for community mental health treatment. Right now, someone who needs mental health care is eight times more likely to wait over 18 months than someone who needs physical health care, and the evidence suggests a majority of these people experience deterioration in symptoms while waiting. A concerted targeting of resources to tackle mental health waiting lists, including starting the roll out of neighbourhood mental health centres, could go some way to getting people treated earlier, and the progress the Government is already making on waiting times for elective care shows that this is achievable. 

Polling indicates under 40s regard mental health as a higher priority even than climate change. We all have a responsibility to rise to the challenge and give this issue the level of priority the public expect, with a whole Government strategy, and targeted interventions to get the situation under control. 

We look forward to continuing to work together to deliver a mentally heathier society.

Kathy Roberts, CEO, Association of Mental Health Providers

Mark Winstanley, CEO, Rethink Mental Illness

Brian Dow, CEO, Mental Health UK

Labour Campaign for Mental Health

Kathy Boles, Chair, Disability Labour

Julie Bentley, CEO, Samaritans

Lucy Taylor-Mitchinson, Director of Policy and Communications, Young Minds

Dr Sarah Hughes, Chief Executive, Mind

Helen Undy, Chief Executive, Money and Mental Health Policy Institute

Sue Millman, Chief Executive, Ataxia UK

Mark Rowland, Chief Executive, Mental Health Foundation

Helen Walker, Chief Executive, Carers UK

Dr Helen Bullbeck, Director of Services and Policy, Brainstrust

Kiri Adams, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Christians Against Poverty

Andy Bell, Chief Executive, Centre for Mental Health

Juliet Tizzard, Director of External Relations, Parkinson’s UK

Simon Bull, Chief Executive, Charcot-Marie-Tooth UK

Amy Whitelock Gibbs, Chair, Children & Young People’s Mental Health Coalition

Andrew MacKay, Chief Executive, Disability Law Service

Paul Bristow, Chief Executive, Kidney Care UK

Sarah McIntosh, CEO, Mental Health First Aid England and the Association of Mental Health First Aiders

Andy Mitchell, Member of the Group, Disabled People Against Cuts Steering Group

Jonathan Gibson, Campaigns Lead, Metabolic Support UK

Dr Lade Smith, President of RCPsych, Royal College of Psychiatrists

Kamena Dorling, Head of Policy, Helen Bamber Foundation

Ross Elliot, Chief Executive, Chrysalis Courses

Dr Rhidian Hughes, Chief Executive, Voluntary Organisations Disability Group

Kate Steele, CEO, Shine

Sonia Meikle, Welfare Benefits Manager and Chair, Croydon Sickle Cell & Thalassaemia Support Group

Si Yates, Director of Operations, Place2Be

Alan Markey, Chair, National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers

Lucy Byrne, Chief Executive, Richmond Aid

Emma McNally, CEO, Tourettes Action

Michael Beckett, Chief Executive Officer, Disability Advice & Welfare Network

Alison Coates, Co-founder, Auto Immune and Multiple Sclerosis

Jyles Robillard-Day, Chief Executive Officer, The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society

Katy Styles, Founder, We Care Campaign