SANE responds to Theresa May’s election pledge on mental health

Theresa May has unveiled plans to change mental health legislation and services in an election pledge.

If the Conservatives win the general election on June 8, the party has announced it will:

– Replace the Mental Health Act to tackle discrimination and the overuse of detention;

– Reform the Equalities Act to protect people from discrimination at work;

– Commit to 10,000 more staff working in NHS mental health services by 2020.

For more detail on the proposals, click here.

Responding to the election pledge, Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of SANE, says: “Theresa May’s electoral pledge is a major victory for all of us who have campaigned to recognise the enormous impact that mental ill-health has on society as a whole.

“We share the view that the Mental Health Act needs reform to give more positive rights to care and treatment and better safeguards for those detained; and everyone welcomes the initiative in schools.

“However, her ambitious and panoramic vision of mental health in the future is painting over some dangerous cracks and fault lines in psychiatric services, which many people are experiencing now.

“At SANE, we hear daily of heartbreaking struggles from individuals and families who are being failed.

“Cuts and closures mean there are few available inpatient beds in the country. For people in crisis police are often the first resort, they may have to be sectioned to receive treatment, driven hundreds of miles to find a hospital bed, or sent home to await a visit from an overstretched community team.

“What we need is a second stage for this promised revolution to succeed, and there needs to be a guarantee that alongside the measures proposed, resources are placed in frontline services.”

View on the SANE website