Care Quality Commission: Mental Health Care Waiting Times Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateBaroness Tyler of Enfield
Main Page: Baroness Tyler of Enfield (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Tyler of Enfield's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(1 day, 21 hours ago)
Lords ChamberI am aware of the very helpful report that my noble friend refers to. I acknowledge the challenges highlighted in that report and will certainly take into account the points it makes. I regularly meet with and listen to the sector on what we can do to improve outcomes and transform mental health services, and this report will of course feed into that.
My Lords, the NHS planning guidance for 2025-26 reduced the overall number of targets, including those for mental health, and the guidance given was of a fairly generalised and vague nature. In the absence of any such targets, what specific incentives are currently in the system for ICBs to prioritise improvements in mental health services?
As the noble Baroness says, we reduced the number of targets on the basis of the recommendation by the noble Lord, Lord Darzi, that having so many targets was not delivering the results that we want. We have had to think boldly and innovatively. Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting time metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services. I am looking at how we can drive improvements in quality and in the data to help services, particularly those with the most lengthy waits. I will also review the 2021-22 clinical review of standards to consider what else can be done to put mental health on a more equal footing, which it absolutely deserves.