Norfolk and Suffolk Mental Health Warn of Funding Issues

The Trust has warned it is struggling to provide a "safe and effective" service and called for fundamental changes. As with many Government departments savings are having to be found. The trust has had to make £20m of savings over the last two years, but is still facing a £1m deficit this year.

The area the Trust covers includes Care Minister MP Norman Lamb's constituency. Mr Lamb believes the new NHS Standards being introduced by the Government could prove a "breakthrough" in giving mental health a "fair deal". He blamed the last Labour Government which had excluded mental health from the same standards as physical health. Mr Lamb said "This injustice inevitably means that funding for physical health is prioritised over mental health at a local level. We are now rectifying this unfairness," and went on to say "I am currently working closely with NHS England to agree details of how key access and waiting time standards for mental health services can be established starting next April.I believe that this could bring a real breakthrough in making sure that mental health gets a fair deal."

Gary Page, chair of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said "We welcome the pledge from the Government about parity of esteem between physical and mental health but that needs to be translated into a fundamental change in the way mental health services are funded. In the acute sector, the amount of funding a hospital receives is linked to how many patients it treats." He went on to explain that "In mental health, we get a fixed amount each year irrespective of whether or not demand is increasing. At the moment, we continue to believe the care we are providing is safe and effective but we can't continue to provide that level of service (under present funding arrangements)."