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Who Is Monitoring The Quality of Primary Care Mental Health Services?

Nobody, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) confine themselves to operational matters, number of patients seen, waiting lists.  The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service has been allowed to self-monitor since its’ inception in 2008.  The National Audit Office abandoned its’ investigation of IAPT because of competing priorities citing the Carillion debacle amongst others in June 2018. Who is listening to the voice of the recipients of the mental health services?  

The mantra appears to be to get everyone to talk about mental health, especially celebrities, get everyone involved in mental health, teachers etc, secure more funding for anything with a mental health flavour on the basis that ‘it must be good’. But frenetic activity does not equal making a real world difference, achieving this has to be carefully monitored.

It goes without saying that we all need a more caring society nationally, for example assisting those who have been self-isolating for over a year to gradually venture out.  From an international perspective we should be giving a £1bn a year to fund the provision of vaccines in poorer countries. The need for compassion is never redundant.  But political correctness about mental health can obscure fully engaging with those in most need. 

Dr Mike Scott

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