NHS to spend extra £1bn a year to tackle mental health crisis

NHS England has announced a five-year plan to improve and expand mental health provision that will include investing at least an extra £1bn a year by 2020-21.

An independent taskforce assessed current mental health provision and found it "chronically underfunded" and lacking in key areas. Failure to provide adequate care has resulted in "hundreds of thousands of lives being put on hold or ruined and thousands of tragic and unnecessary deaths", the report said.

Its recommendations are set to be implemented in what is expected to be the biggest overhaul of NHS mental health services in a generation.

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The funding will come from the additional money awarded to the NHS in last year's spending round. Some of it will be used to ensure those suffering with mental illness will be able to access round-the-clock help within their community. Currently, 24-hour home-based care is only available to around half the country, with the rest relying on acute inpatient admissions to mental health wards.

The report also recommends crisis resolution and home treatment teams are available to treat and support patients in their own homes wherever possible, minimalising police and hospital involvement.

Other suggestions include expanded provision for pregnant women and new mothers, as well as a suicide prevention plan to monitor high-risk groups. Suicide is currently the leading cause of death in men aged 15-49.

Research suggests that one in four people in the UK will face a mental health problem in any given year, with depression and anxiety disorders being among the most common.

Report chairman and chief executive of Mind Paul Farmer said the five-year plan represented a "major transformation" and that mental health must be given priority on a par with physical health.

Brian Dow, the director of external affairs at charity Rethink Mental Illness, said: "This report has been a long, long time coming," calling it a "hugely significant moment" for mental health care in England.