Without the proper funding, the government's promises on mental health are worthless

The government has been driving its new mental health agenda pretty hard as of late. As far back as 2012, David Cameron pledged that his coalition would give “parity of esteem” to mental and physical healthcare, a promise that has been repeated ad infinitum in recent months. Mental health was a key part of Theresa May’s re-election campaign—she even described her proposed policies as a “revolution in mental health care.”

And now Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has joined the debate, announcing what he calls the “biggest expansion of mental health services in Europe.” If the plan goes ahead, £1.3bn will go towards recruiting 2,000 more nurses and therapists in child and adolescent services (CAMHS), 2,900 more therapists for adult talking therapists and 4,800 more nurses for crisis care teams.

If it sounds too good to be true, that’s probably because it is. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) rightfully points out that, given the timeline of the plans, nurses will have to start being trained next month in order to be qualified in time to provide the services at all. Yet the withdrawal of bursaries for trainee nurses has lead to a fall in university applications, with no additional funding offered to help plug that gap. In May, the RCN also noted that there are already 40,000 unfilled nursing posts—so how does Jeremy Hunt propose additional posts will be filled?

GMB, the union for mental health workers, is similarly sceptical. It points out the 13 per cent fall in mental health nurses since 2010 (a total of 5,161), and the overall rise in vacancies for NHS jobs. GMB’s national officer, Kevin Brandstatter, has said that the recruitment drive will “only scratch the surface of the problem,” and that the government has a “political policy of starving the NHS of resources.”

And he’s right. Hunt’s comments are characteristic of the government’s approach to mental health. First, there’s an acknowledgement that services aren’t up to scratch and a subsequent declaration that Something Needs To Be Done. Then there are policy proposals—more nurses, in this case, but also mental health first aid classes in schools, or working with employers at the onset of illness.

But, ultimately, these promises are meaningless in the face of sweeping NHS cuts. According to mental health charity YoungMinds, 75 per cent of trusts froze or cut their mental health budgets between 2014 and 2015. 20 per cent had frozen their CAMHS budgets every year since 2010. NHS workers, mental health experts and service users have all been highlighting the impact these cuts have had for years. Staff shortages, lack of beds and overworked staff have all caused significant strain on workers and patients alike.

The plans also betray a complete lack of practicality: as the RCN and GMB point out, recruiting that number of nurses is simply not possible in the time frame suggested. Likewise, Theresa May’s “mental health first aid” for teachers seemed like a great idea—until teachers pointed out that funding cuts would make it impossible.

Bold policies like this may seem like progress in the short term, and they are incredibly effective at generating sympathetic column inches. They’re also a great way for the Conservatives to give the impression that they’re a party of both compassion and action.

But anyone who has been involved in public mental health care, either as a worker or a service user, can see such proposals for what they are—utterly meaningless. Tackling foundational problems in mental healthcare—process and administration, pay caps and bursaries, basic funding issues—may not be sexy, or headline grabbing. What they are, though, is vital to the safety and well-being of thousands of people.

If this government truly cared about mental health care beyond ‘tackling stigma’, they’d face these issues head on. The fact that they don’t—despite overwhelming evidence from experts, NHS staff and the mentally ill themselves—reveals the true heart of their health care policy.