Nancy Platts supports Mind’s call for better mental health provision.
Mind, the mental health charity, launches its Crisis Care Campaign this week and is calling for local services to deliver on their promise to improve the support for people who are suicidal, self-harming or have psychotic illnesses.
Nancy Platts, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, is backing this campaign.
Nancy says: “I am supporting Mind’s campaign to improve crisis care through a local Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat. Around one in four people could experience a mental health problem this year and this can make anyone feel alienated, isolated, confused and frightened; even more so if patients are conveyed to places of safety in caged police vehicles or taken into custody, as is currently the case in Brighton, because not enough appropriate places are available at Millview.”
“I am pleased that Brighton and Hove City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board is developing a local action plan and I will be monitoring progress to make sure that good intentions are made a reality for everyone trying to access crisis care. For too long, mental health issues have failed to get sufficient priority within the health service, and it’s high time that situation was changed.”
Last year, national and local governments, and leaders of key services in England, including health, police, and voluntary organisations, signed the Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat, an agreement that sets national standards for the care of people in mental health crisis. The Concordat aims to make sure that no matter where someone turns, they get the help they need and don’t fall through the cracks between different services.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board discussed the Concordat standards at their meeting on December 9, 2014. Their next steps included seeking sign-up and a declaration of support for the action plan from local stakeholders and people who use the services.
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind, says: “In a mental health crisis, your mind is at melting point. You may experience extreme anxiety, have suicidal thoughts or even a psychotic episode. It can happen to anyone. When you’re in crisis you need compassion and understanding, no matter who you turn to for help – whether it’s health and ambulance services, the police, social care or voluntary organisations.
“Signing a local Concordat is the first step in improving services but we need to see these good intentions translated into better services for everyone in crisis. We need the next government, and the next set of MPs, to provide clear leadership and resources to make sure the Concordat’s standards are achieved and local action plans delivered so that excellent crisis care is available everywhere.”
The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat joint statement reads as follows:
“We commit to work together to improve the system of care and support so that people in crisis because of a mental health condition are kept safe and helped to find the support they need – whatever the circumstances in which they first need help – and from whichever service they turn to first.
“We will work together, and with local organisations, to prevent crises happening whenever possible through prevention and early intervention. We will make sure we meet the needs of vulnerable people in urgent situations. We will strive to make sure that all relevant public services support someone who appears to have a mental health problem to move towards recovery.
“Jointly, we hold ourselves accountable for enabling this commitment to be delivered across England.”
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