Leading charity Rethink has criticised Tory leader David Cameron saying that they were disappointed that his recent speech on NHS reform failed to mention mental health.
Heather Kidd said ‘With mental health being the largest spending area in the NHS it is disgraceful to see that in a speech on how the Conservatives would deliver healthcare services the problems of mental health was not even mentioned. Over 1/3 of G.P.’s time is spent on mental health problem and with the current economic climate putting strains on people this will not diminish in the short term.’
One National Health Trust chief executive has said that he was ‘greatly worried’ that the Conservatives had so far said little about mental health. Added to financial uncertainties, National Health Trusts felt they were ‘planning in the dark’, he said. ‘We don’t want to be misleading clinicians by saying we’re going to develop services and then have to backtrack,’ the chief executive said.