Hafal's Cinderella a few years back in a blaze of publicity aimed at protecting mental health resources
More about mental health services for young people, this time in England. Third sector colleagues across the border have protested about the damage which cuts are doing - and pointed out that this threatens lives.
See the Beeb's story on this here.
Our friends have said:
"The recent decision by NHS England and the health regulator Monitor to recommend cutting funding for mental health services by 20% more than that for acute hospitals completely contravenes the government's promise to put mental and physical healthcare on an equal footing and will put lives at risk...
"Mental health is chronically underfunded. It accounts for 28% of the disease burden, but gets just 13% of the NHS budget. Mental health services are straining at the seams and these new cuts will mean support is slashed in response to instructions from NHS England. This decision will cost much more in the long term as it will drive up admissions to A&E and the number of people reaching crisis and needing expensive hospital care...
"Time is running out; we urge NHS England and Monitor to do the right thing and resolve this issue swiftly."
Sad to reflect that just announcing that mental health will no longer be a Cinderella does not guarantee that she will get to the ball.
And no room for complacency in Wales. We need to make sure that the ring fence on NHS mental health spending in Wales (the nearest equivalent to the English promise mentioned above except theoretically better as it promises extra protection to mental health) really means something.
A different Cinderella (unlike the Ugly Sisters we conform to the Working Time Directive so they did shifts) having her slipper fitted by a passing Prince Charming. Is there no indignity which Hafal's staff will not sportingly undergo in our great cause?
