Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to reduce the waiting lists for NHS mental health services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues across the country are not getting the support or care they deserve. This is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given 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 will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on hospitals.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of patients (a) waiting for mental healthcare and (b) on NHS waiting lists for physical conditions who are also waiting for mental healthcare.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
There is currently no waiting times standard covering all mental health service areas. For services where a waiting times standard does exist, the latest position over the period from November 2023 to January 2024 was published by NHS England on 14 March 2024.
Information on routine and urgent referrals to children and young people’s eating disorder services and referrals to the early Intervention in Psychosis pathway is available at the following link:
Information on referrals to NHS Talking Therapies is available at the following link:
For referrals to adult community mental health services waiting for a second contact, referrals to children and young people’s community mental health services waiting for a first contact and Accident & Emergency attendances for mental health or self-harm, information is being collected to prepare for the proposed new waiting time standards being developed as part of the Clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards but these are NOT yet associated with a target. The latest position over the period from November 2023 to January 2024 is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-services-monthly-statistics/performance-january-2024
Information on the number of patients on NHS waiting lists for physical conditions who are also waiting for mental healthcare is not held centrally.
Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are expanding and transforming NHS mental health care so that more people can get the support that they need more quickly. Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, the NHS forecasts that spending on mental health services has increased by £4.6 billion in cash terms, compared to the target of £3.4 billion in cash terms set out at the time of the NHS Long Term Plan. All integrated boards are also on track to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2023/24.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle waiting lists for mental health services in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Waiting lists for those referred for support are too high, and especially so for young people. People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the broken system and ensure that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.
The Government will recruit 8,500 additional staff across children and adult mental health services, introduce a specialist mental health professional in every school, and roll out the Young Futures hubs to further support young people’s mental health.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8607 on Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists, if she will provide this data by NHS provider.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The information requested is shown in the attached tables.
Asked by: Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many young people are on the waiting list to access support at the specialist gender services at Great Ormond Street Hospital and Alder Hey Children's Hospital; and what is the current average length of time spent by young people on the waiting list before attending their first appointment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of July 2024, there were 6,033 individuals on the national waiting list for NHS Children and Young Peoples Gender Services, which includes the services in London and the North West, with a median waiting time of 95 weeks.
NHS England has published an ambitious two-year action plan, which sets out how it will continue to transform and improve services. Investment in children and young people’s gender services in 2024/25 has more than doubled compared to 2023/24, and will increase further as new services are established.
In April 2024, NHS England opened two new services in the North West and London that offer a fundamentally different clinical model, embedding multi-disciplinary teams in specialist children’s hospitals. A third new service will open in the South West in the autumn, and a fourth in the East of England in spring of next year. NHS England is advancing towards meeting its commitment for there to be a specialist children’s gender service in every region by 2026. These new services will increase service capacity and reduce waiting lists.
We understand that it must be challenging for all those on the waiting list for services, but it is important that we get these services right, which involves developing teams with specialist clinical skill sets and ensuring that research is embedded within services. NHS England has also written to all children and young people on the waiting list for services, to offer them a mental health assessment, and has rolled out an improved referral pathway into services, which ensures that children are assessed more holistically through referral via pediatrics or children’s mental health services.
In his House of Commons written statement HCWS70 on 4 September 2024, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care outlined the significant progress that has been made in the transformation of children and young people’s gender services.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health services in Ealing Southall constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given 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 including in Ealing Southall. We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on hospitals. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country back to health.
Asked by: Alex Baker (Labour - Aldershot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to mental health services in Aldershot constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues in Aldershot and across the country are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given 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 will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment which will also help ease pressure on hospitals. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country back to good health.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health services in the Colne Valley constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues in the Colne Valley constituency and across the country are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given 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 will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on hospitals. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country back to good health.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to mental health services in Hitchin constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given 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 will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on hospitals. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country, including in the Hitchin constituency, back to health.
Written Evidence May. 28 2024
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: LTW0030 - NHS England’s modelling for the Long-Term Workforce Plan Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health