The recently published ‘Health and Social Care Review and Studies Programme’ Audit Commission, Healthcare Commission, CSI, and National Audit Office, 6 April 2006, has the following section on mental health:

‘The following statistics show the potential impact of mental health on healthcare provision:

• At any one time, one in six adults has a mental health disorder (ONS Psychiatric Morbidity study).
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts that depression will be the leading cause of disability internationally by 2020.
• One in five young people under the age of 15 suffers from severe to mild mental health difficulties.
• Suicide is the most common cause of death in men under 35.
• In one in four consultations with GPs, a mental health problem is the sole or major reason for the consultation.
• The social exclusion unit report into mental health and social exclusion calculated that mental health problems cost the country an estimated £77 billion/year through costs of care, economic losses and premature death.

The health and well-being of mental health service users relies on a range of health and social care needs being met. One cannot be considered in isolation to the other and therefore it is essential we work closely together to ensure that there is a coherent framework within which to assess the health and social care outcomes across all age ranges.

Along with the joint programme of work, each organisation will also be producing a number of other products during 2006/07. For the Healthcare Commission, these will include a programme of work around value for money,their work on accessible information, and the State of Healthcare report. The 2006/07 State of Healthcare report will be focusing on: meeting the needs of people with learning disabilities; children’s services and maternal care; living with long-term conditions; and mental health (theme to be decided).’

The full report can be accessed At this link

The Healthcare Commission has published its second annual report last year on the state of healthcare in England and Wales, focusing for the first time on the experience of patients.

The report asked three questions: do people receive effective healthcare services, do they have enough control over the care that they receive, and do some get a better deal from healthcare services than others?

Each report focuses on different issues, and pulls together the most up to date evidence on the experience of patients, including the findings of the Healthcare Commission's own surveys of patients. This year, mental health will be one of it’s four themes. Look out for it from July onwards.

Wendy Slater
CPA Co-ordinator
Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust