Oral QuestionDepartment of Health and Social Care

“What assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to NHS mental health services.”

Tabled: 9 October 2024Answered: 15 October 2024

Asked by

Chris Webb

Labour — Blackpool South

Answering Minister

the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Answer from Hansard

The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)

Our mental health service is on its knees, thanks to 14 years of Tory neglect and mismanagement. A staggering 1 million people are waiting to access mental health services, and vacancy rates are around 10%, the highest across the NHS. This Government are committed to fixing our broken NHS so that people can be confident of accessing high-quality mental health support when needed. That includes recruiting 8,500 more mental health workers, introducing specialist mental health professionals in every school, rolling out Young Futures hubs in every community and modernising the Mental Health Act.