Despite promised increases in funding, mental health trusts are still suffering cuts, say every former health secretary in the past 20 years, urging Theresa May to honour David Cameron’s pledge that the NHS would treat mental health on a par with physical health.
The BBC said that the group of ex ministers -both Labour and Copnservagtive – say that suicide remains the biggest killer of men under 45; that people in crisis are still routinely shunted across the country in search of a hospital bed; that children with eating disorders are too often turned away from services; and there is a growing mental health crisis among young women.
Expressing ‘alarm and dismay’ at the government’s failure to improve mental health services, the group in a signed letter to The Times, warn that ‘warm words’ are yet to be backed by action.
The group say they were encouraged by earlier government statements backing calls for mental health patients to receive ‘the same timely access to treatment as others enjoy’.
“Despite the warm words, one year on we see the same enduring injustice, the massive economic cost and the distress suffered by countless families across the country,” they added.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the newspaper: “We are making progress against our goal to address the difficulties faced by those with mental health problems – spending by clinical commissioning groups has increased by £693 million, every area in the country has put together plans to transform children’s mental health services, and our suicide prevention strategy is to be refreshed, all backed by added investment.”
With more than 1,800 highly-qualified therapists across the UK, the National Council for Hypnotherapy is ideally placed to assist the government in dealing with mental health issues.
Says the NCH: “Hypnotherapy is an evidence based therapy, with over 70,000 research references worldwide. Clinical hypnosis can be used to help treat a wide range of mental health issues including anxiety, stress and depression, fears and phobias, panic attacks and lack of confidence.
“It can also be used as a tool to manage pain, improve performance at work or in sport and to allow for better birth outcomes as well as treating physical conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, skin conditions and migraines.”
Besides these, clinical hypnotherapy is widely used by people to manage their weight, break habits like smoking and other addictions and to improve sexual performance.
Looking at the need for improved mental health cared, the NCH noted that at least one in seven people are suffering from stress or anxiety at any one time in the UK.
“And while some people manage, more and more people are showing signs of over-anxiety, which leads to stress, which can make a significant impact on the quality of life and wellbeing,” adds the national body.
The pressure of modern living has an effect in the workplace too, adds the NCH, saying that many hypnotherapists offer special offers to businesses for stress reduction schemes at work.
“It is worth talking to your employer or to a local hypnotherapist to see if that this is a possibility. Stress is one of the major reasons people take time off work, and investing in stress reduction schemes companies can increase productivity, happiness and subsequently loyalty in their employees.”
Formed in 1973 to create a national membership organisation for independent hypnotherapy practitioners, the National Council for Hypnotherapy has worked steadily over the years towards raising the standards of hypnotherapy in the UK in every possible way.
It strives to maintain a Common Code of Ethics and Practice & a Complaints & Disciplinary Procedure to deal with complaints from any source and to encourage high training standards and to move towards nationally-recognised qualifications in hypnotherapy.
It also encourages all its therapists to register with the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), the UK’s voluntary regulator for complementary healthcare practitioners that was set up with government support to protect the public by providing a UK voluntary register of complementary therapists.
CNHC’s register has been approved as an Accredited Register by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care. This means CNHC has met the Professional Standards Authority’s demanding standards.