'The themes are painfully familiar': We respond to review of the state of the NHS

A review of the NHS by Lord Darzi has warned that services are in critical condition, with lengthy waits for treatment putting lives at risk. 

Mark Winstanley, Chief Executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said:

“This report reinforces the pressure the NHS is under as it grapples with rising demand and increasingly complex needs. For people who use mental health services, the themes are painfully familiar. People shouldn’t have to wait for essential care, but they expect to. The ongoing struggle to get the right treatment at the right time pushes people to the point of crisis. Inpatient services are stretched, but when people are well enough to be discharged they usually face a cliff-edge of support when they return to community care, leaving them vulnerable to future crises. And so, the cycle begins again.

“Before the pressures of recent years derailed progress within the NHS, mental health services were able to demonstrate a real return on investment after decades of chronic underfunding. In responding to Lord Darzi’s report, the Government must reprioritise mental health and work not only to address the crisis right ahead, but also grasp the power of prevention. Additional investment into community services now would spare future generations from inevitable and damaging struggles to access essential and life-changing mental health support, and put the NHS on a more sustainable footing.”