Shadow Mental Health Minister Dr Rosena Allin-Khan warns of mental health crisis in Yorkshire as more people are sectioned under the Mental Health Act and urgent mental health assessments rise as much as 79 per cent

The Government is not doing enough to prevent a mental health crisis this winter, the Shadow Mental Health Minister has said, as detentions under the Mental Health Act are rising and more people in Yorkshire slide into mental ill-health under lockdown.
Dr Allin-Khan urged the Government to commit funding to mental healthDr Allin-Khan urged the Government to commit funding to mental health
Dr Allin-Khan urged the Government to commit funding to mental health

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, a Labour MP who still does shifts as an emergency doctor, said the Government has “turned a blind eye to the mental health crisis” and warned that Britain could face a “second pandemic” of mental health problems.

Dr Allin-Khan said: “We’re three weeks into November and I would have hoped that the Government might have had a plan for winter before now. It’s another example of the Government putting off crucial work.

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“The Government has turned a blind eye to the mental health crisis that has exploded following the Government’s response to Covid-19.”

She said a decade of austerity before the pandemic meant many people were already struggling before Covid-19 hit.

She said: “The people of Yorkshire have been incredibly resilient, incredibly tough, in the face of losing loved ones and not being able to say goodbye, losing colleagues, losing jobs and all of this on the back of what was already a very difficult time for so many. The Government needs to take responsibility for making sure their mental health is protected.”

Mental health issues are rising rapidly in the region among people of all demographics, with many feeling stressed, anxious or depressed for the first time during the pandemic.

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Lockdown also saw a rise in the number of people in mental health crisis in Yorkshire.

Despite people spending more time at home, there was a rise in members of the public needing an urgent mental health assessment outside their homes during the first lockdown period and subsequent local lockdowns, according to Yorkshire Post analysis of NHS England data.

Under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, police can detain members of the public in order to take them to a safe place to be assessed, with help from the ambulance service.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service responded to more than 500 incidents under Section 136 between March and October, a rise of third compared with the previous year.

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In September alone, these calls were 79 per cent higher than the previous year.

This comes as the region is already suffering a higher rate of people being “sectioned” or detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act.

Yorkshire Post analysis of separate NHS England figures shows that people in the region were sectioned at least 4,540 times in the 2019/20 financial year.

The Bradford city area had the highest rate of people being sectioned, with 151 people per 100,000. This was followed by Hull with 125 per 100,000 and Scarborough and Ryedale with 124.

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All mental health trusts in Yorkshire have said they plan to ringfence existing mental health beds over the winter, after fears mental health patients might be sent home to make room for people being treated for Covid-19.

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust chief operating officer Joanna Forster Adams said the trust had also created extra mental health beds to cope with additional demand.

She said: “We are working flexibly to safely care for any of our patients who have coronavirus .This includes enhanced physical health support for symptomatic patients and robust infection control measures in place to prevent the spread of infection.”

Mental health charity Mind called for face-to-face services for those who need them, as well as funding to ensure people are discharged from hospital with the support they need.

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Vicki Nash, head of policy and campaigns at Mind, said: “As we continue through a difficult winter in lockdown, we know thousands of people in Yorkshire are living with mental health problems which make the situation even harder.

“The government must ensure that those most at risk are safeguarded so we don’t face a second pandemic of a national mental health crisis.

“We were concerned that during the first lockdown, people were quickly discharged from hospital without the support they so desperately needed. This cannot be allowed to happen again.

“The government have committed £588 million to help the NHS safely discharge patients from acute hospitals. As of yet, not a penny of that has gone to mental health services. Without that funding, far too many people are going to suffer this winter at a time where they need help the most.”

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Dr Allin-Khan said many mental health charities were struggling financially and needed financial support “more than ever”.

She said: “Charities are meant to support the government, not be the backstop themselves.

“I applaud the incredible work that charities have been doing but in Yorkshire and all over the country so many of the smaller local charities that know their communities best or deal with niche groups are being forced to close at a time when people need help the most.”

The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for a response.