It is no surprise that mental health services are suffering from an inadequate lack of funding, so it is frightening and revealing to consider the latest research by the Centre for Mental Health, commissioned by the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network, which suggest the overall financial impact of mental ill health in the UK is more than £300 billion.
I would encourage everyone to read the detail around the impact of finances in this edition’s news feature (p10). The unseen toll of underinvestment in mental health is not only a financial decision for governments, it’s a moral imperative.
Ultimately, compassion and targeted care should be accessible to all our citizens, and that requires our leaders to invest wisely and prioritise mental wellbeing. The overall cost of this to people and wider society is far less than the cost of doing nothing.