NHS Long-term Plan

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen Excerpts

Monday 1st July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

The noble Lord raises two hugely significant issues, which probably deserve a full debate. On clinicians and NHS systems being prepared to respond most effectively to those facing terminal illness, and their families, we have improved but there is much more to do—not just for the health service but for us all as a society. We need to become more open and comfortable with discussing that; some work has been done but more is needed. On mental health services providing support for families as well as individuals, we are still some way from where we would like to be but it is recognised as something that needs to be done.

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen (Con)]

My Lords, I want to ask my noble friend the Minister about GPs’ training in mental health. I think it has been acknowledged that when parents take their children to the GP, quite often that is for a physical ailment but it turns out that the child could have a mental problem. It is difficult for GPs to pick that up, perhaps partly because of a lack of training and partly because they have only 10 minutes to see the child.

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

My noble friend raises a hugely important issue. We are seeing an improvement in the quality of training for GPs; the RCGP has been playing an important role in this, especially in raising specialist areas such as perinatal mental healthcare through the champions that it spreads through its system. We are seeing the impact on the ground, with CCGs meeting the mental health investment standard and rolling out specific access waiting times, so it is having an impact. But there is always more to do and the royal colleges have a specific role to play in raising awareness and the quality of training.