Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps has he taken to help reduce waiting times for mental health treatment in the South East.

Waiting times for those referred to mental health services are too high all across England, including in the South East.

Too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.

We are committed to improving mental health care for people with a range of mental health conditions, and to shifting the focus from treatment to prevention, as we make the National Health Service fit for the future.

In the Spending Review announcement, we have confirmed that we will fulfil the Government’s commitments to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health staff, to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, by the end of the Parliament, and we will expand mental health support teams in schools in England to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30.

Our reforms to the Mental Health Act will give patients a greater say in their care and will ensure that people get the appropriate and compassionate mental health support they need.