26.03.13
Mental and physical health must have parity of esteem – RCPsych
Parity of esteem must be achieved between mental and physical health to make whole-person care a reality, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has stated in a new report.
‘Whole-person care: from rhetoric to reality’ examines why parity of esteem is currently lacking and how it could be achieved.
The report recommends good leadership, with a lead councillor for mental health in all councils, all providers of specialist mental health services including a board member who leads for physical health, and vice versa.
The Government should work to improve access to psychological therapy and include a right in the NHS Constitution for service users to receive treatments, when appropriate, that have been recommended by NICE clinical guidelines as well as technology appraisals.
NHS organisations should review their diversity and equality policies and enforce a zero tolerance approach to discrimination, the report states. Commissioners also need to regard liaison services as “an absolute necessity rather than as an optional luxury.”
Funding for mental health services must be commensurate with its impact on the public.
The report reads: “The long-standing and continuing lack of parity between mental and physical health evidenced in this report is inequitable and socially unjust.
“This ‘mental health treatment gap’, exemplified by lower treatment rates for mental health conditions, premature mortality of people with mental health problems and underfunding of mental healthcare relative to the scale and impact of mental health problems, falls short of government commitments to international human rights conventions which recognise the rights of people with mental health problems to the highest attainable standard of health; yet it can be argued that this lack of parity is so embedded in healthcare and in society that it is tolerated and hardly remarked upon.”
Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive at the Mental Health Foundation, said: “The scale of the problem is devastating, with mental illness leading to the premature death of thousands of people every year, and depression associated with a 50% increased mortality from cardiovascular disease and from cancer.
“It is vital that the National Institute for Health Research breaks down the barriers presented by single disease group silos and instead focuses on systems that facilitate multidisciplinary and cross-sector working.
“The current lack of parity is unjust and falls worryingly short of government commitments, therefore we await the Minister’s response to this report with interest.”
Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), recognised the need for a collaborative approach to providing whole-person care and said: “The RCP strongly recommends that all acute trusts provide a comprehensive psychiatric liaison service for medical patients identified with mental illness. The RCP also advocates for secondary care specialist liaison into mental health trusts. This partnership working promotes early diagnosis and prompt treatment of the physical illnesses that affect patients with mental illness.”
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