NHS warned to brace for ‘rising tide’ of patients needing mental health support

The NHS should brace itself for a rising tide of patients in need of mental health support as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, health leaders have warned.

But the NHS Confederation said there are “constraints” in what the service can deliver.

It warned that people requiring support and treatment are at risk of not getting the care they need and their conditions deteriorating.

While the peak of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital came earlier this year, a new report from the NHS Confederation warned that the peak in demand for mental health care is “yet to come”.

It said mental health bodies need “intensive support and investment” to prepare for it.

The report says many providers are already seeing higher numbers of patients than before the pandemic.

Anecdotal evidence suggests there are patients with more significant needs; a higher proportion of patients are accessing services for the first time; and increased numbers of patients detained under the Mental Health Act.

And some mental health bodies are predicting a 20% rise in demand.

The Centre for Mental Health has estimated that an additional 500,000 people will require support for their mental health in the next two years.

But this comes as many have been forced to reduce the number of patients they can treat because of infection control procedures and social distancing measures.

Three “drivers of additional demand” include: demand from people who would have used the service regardless of the pandemic, people whose mental health will have deteriorated during the pandemic, and new demand from people needing support due to the wider impacts of the pandemic, such as self-isolation and increases in substance abuse and domestic violence.

As well as additional support for service providers, the NHS Confederation has called for a recruitment campaign encouraging people into mental health roles.

Sean Duggan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network, said: “Although being away from the political spotlight, mental health services across the country have faced unprecedented challenges due to coronavirus which they have responded to remarkably by innovating and moving to different ways of working to protect their patients and staff.

“But we must not be fooled into thinking that the worst is behind us. There is a rising tide in demand for NHS-funded mental health care associated with the pandemic, which we expect to remain high for some time and will be felt long after the physical health crisis across acute and community care subsides.

“Providers are facing this with reduced capacity across their services, with significant funding constraints, and with a workforce that is close to burnout due to vacancy levels and the pressures placed upon them.

“If these issues are not addressed, it could overwhelm services and lead to people having to wait longer for mental health support and their conditions deteriorating.

“Above all else, the Chancellor must stay true to his promise and give the NHS whatever it needs, and for mental health care services that means recognising that the crisis is far from over.”