Mental health is a ‘service under severe strain’, says the Mental Health Network.
Workforce statistics published by NHS Digital show 35,674 registered nurses working in mental health NHS trusts in England in June 2018, a drop of more than 12% on the 40,602 employed less than a decade ago in September 2009.
‘We have got a real challenge ahead of us and we have to take a broad approach to find solutions,’ said Sean Duggan, chief executive of the Mental Health Network. ‘Better mental health care can only be delivered with the right number of staff with the right skills. We need to enable mental health providers to attract and retain the right colleagues to help put the nation’s mental health on the right track for the long haul.’
At the end of the first quarter of 2018/19, there were 8448 registered nurse vacancies in mental health NHS trusts. More than a fifth (20.6%) of all nursing vacancies are in mental health. Additionally, there has been a six-fold increase in children and young people reporting having a long standing mental health condition over the last 20 years.
‘Psychology graduates must be welcomed into our ranks with suitable roles identified and define and rolled out on a national scale,’ added Mr Duggan. ‘The sector also needs to fully implement the recommendations from Thriving at Work, which will help employers support the mental wellbeing of their staff, to keep their workforce happy and healthy and reduce attrition rates.’
Health Education England’s workforce strategy Stepping Forward thats that 19,000 additional roles from March 2017 were needed by 2020/21 to implement the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. Earlier this month, the Government revealed in an answer to a Parliamentary question that just 917 have been added.