Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on (a) implementing and (b) training additional mental health staff to help relieve waiting lists.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
We know that the National Health Service has been facing chronic workforce shortages for a number of years and, while there has been growth in the mental health workforce over recent years, more is needed.
That is why, as part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future and is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment. We recognise that bringing in the staff needed will take time. We are working to develop a plan to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce, including where they should be deployed to achieve maximum effect.
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