Active Care Group, a company owned by private equity that cares for hundreds of vulnerable patients for the NHS, has narrowly avoided going out of business. After months of escalating financial difficulties, an administrator was appointed 29 May 2024, who immediately sold the company’s assets in what is known as a ‘pre-packaged sale’ to avoid

New research commissioned by the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network shows the cost of mental ill health for England was a staggering £300 billion in 2022. The study, conducted by the Centre for Mental Health, shows that the £300bn figure breaks down into: £110bn – economic costs such as sickness absence, ‘presenteeism’, staff turnover and unemployment £130bn –

Doctors were shocked to discover the latest cash-saving wheeze from NHS England to axe the dedicated mental health support for hospital doctors offered by the Practitioner Health Programme (PHP), but after an outcry from across the medical profession, the scheme was given a last-minute reprieve. The service – the largest publicly-funded mental health staff treatment

One in five children and young people in England aged eight to 25 have a probable mental disorder, according to a new survey from NHS England, with large rises in the last few years in the number with eating disorders. But years of underinvestment in community mental health services means these children and young people

World Mental Health Day on October 10th took the theme of good mental health as a universal human right. In the UK, despite over 75 years of universal healthcare via the NHS, attaining good mental health as a human right is getting ever harder to achieve following over a decade of underfunding and policies that

The latest dire revelations of the state of mental health services provided by Greater Manchester mental health trust, which has been declared ‘inadequate’ by the CQC, need to be seen in the context of rising staff shortages, underfunding and government neglect. So bad has the situation become that the chief executive of the NHS Confederation’s

News about NHS children’s mental health services hit a new low point this month, with research by The House publication finding a quarter of a million children being denied help by the NHS in the last year. The House research used FOI requests to NHS trusts across the UK and found that England has the

Leading voices across the mental health sector gave last week’s ‘back to work’ Budget a ‘requires improvement’ rating, highlighting how government failure to address fundamental capacity and workforce issues risks undermining the new support announced by the chancellor. Among the various ‘shifting the dial’ support initiatives announced in the Budget were an expansion of the

Mental health charities say the government’s broken promise to produce a new strategy focused on mental health “risks letting down the one in four people in the UK impacted by mental illness”. Instead ministers plan to include mental health within a broader Major Conditions Strategy, along with chronic physical conditions, such as cancer and respiratory

The list of impossible tasks The customary pre-Christmas Eve letter to NHS bosses and leaders setting objectives for the next financial year was significantly shorter than usual in 2022, with the list of impossible things to do scaled back from 130 or so to 31 “national objectives”: but even the reduced list will have made

A new survey from Pulse has revealed how the pressure on mental health services has led to GPs having to provide specialist mental health support that they say is beyond their competence. The survey of 569 GPs, which looked at the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health services at the GP level, found

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are in a state of near-collapse across much of the UK according to a shocking new report by mental health charity stem4, publicised in The Guardian. The report draws on a survey this spring of 1001 GPs, and finds 95% of respondents believe CAMHS services are either in

As the most vulnerable NHS mental health patients face growing waits for treatment, and ministers want to start talking about a new mental health strategy, it is time to recognise that partnerships with the private sector are no easy route to easing the NHS waiting lists.   Private health companies have a strong foothold in

Boots brought private health a little closer to the high street last week with the launch of a subscription-based on-demand service for customers suffering from depression and anxiety. A press release supporting the move cites the current crisis in free mental healthcare provision in the NHS – and appears to link it with a claimed

The evidence of a massive increase in people in need of help from mental health services in the UK is now incontrovertible. NHS England reports 1.4 million people on the waiting list for care, with an additional eight million who would benefit from care, but who do not meet current criteria.   Funding?  Despite all the

The last three months have seen more worrying reports of the pressure mental health services are under as a system that was struggling before the pandemic now tries to cope with a surge in requests for support.  In early January 2022, NHS Digital data showed the dramatic surge in demand for services for eating disorders