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PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Mental Health (4 January 2022)

Question Asked

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that each local NHS area is taking steps towards parity of esteem between mental and physical health.

Asked by:
Fleur Anderson (Labour)

Answer

The NHS Mandate states that NHS England must seek to treat mental health with the same urgency as physical health. This is monitored through three metrics:

- Mental health services real terms expenditure growth;

- Number of people accessing Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services; and

- Number of children and young people accessing National Health Service-funded mental health services.

In October 2021, NHS England and NHS Improvement published ‘2021/22 priorities and operational planning guidance: October 2021 – March 2022’ which states that local areas must continue to meet the mental health investment standard, continue to increase access to children and young people’s NHS-funded community mental health services and NHS-funded talking therapies for adults.


Answered by:
Gillian Keegan (Conservative)
10 January 2022

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.