Mental health challenges

I met two paramedics this week who talked me through their daily workload. They told me that around 1 in 5 of their 999 call-outs were to assist people who were having mental health issues. They were doing a fantastic job in the circumstances but complained of not having enough local mental health specialists, crisis teams, or support and training in this area. This conversation confirmed my long-held concern that mental health services continue to be the poor relation of the NHS; under-funded and under-resourced.

With 1 in 4 our of fellow countrymen having mental health issues it is vital that we give our health professions the backing to tackle this huge challenge.