Mental Health Services: Rural Areas
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) availability of mental health services and (b) recruitment and retention of mental health professionals in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
Waiting lists for those referred for mental health support are too high all across England, including in rural communities.
People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health and that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.
Nationally, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.
We are working to consider the options to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce, including where they should be deployed to achieve maximum effect. NHS England is also working to improve retention within the mental health workforce through clearer career progression pathways.
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