I am leading the No Time To Wait mental health campaign in Parliament, with James Starkie and The Daily Telegraph.
The aims of our campaign are as follows:
To put an end to the postcode lottery of the number of sessions you receive – different CCGs will provide a different number of minimum sessions, so you can receive more or less on the NHS dependant on where you live. This is wrong and there should be a higher minimum number than at present. In short, mental health provision needs levelling up
Mental health nurses placed in all GP surgeries – mental health nurses will conduct the assessment once you have seen a GP. This would allow quicker access to mental health treatment in one go.
Reduce the current waiting time targets. In 2019-20, 87.4 per cent of referrals started treatment within 6 weeks of being referred. This demonstrates a decrease on previous years and the situation has only get worse throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. We think, especially with the introduction of mental health nurses in GPs, the target waiting time should be improved to 2–4 weeks.
Show your support for the campaign below: