Mental health crisis needs tackling warns BMA – Yorkshire Post Letters

COVID-19 has meant a sudden and stark change in the way people live their lives but as we return to some semblance of normality, we are faced with the longer-term impact this pandemic will have on mental health. Our mental health services were already on the backfoot – under-resourced and under-funded – which makes the prospect of coping with the potential avalanche in demand extremely concerning.

The impact of the pandemic on the population’s mental health could also serve to widen existing inequalities if the right attention is not given to the more vulnerable groups.

The BMA has for a long time been calling for mental health services to be given funding and resources equal to that of physical health provision, and this pandemic has ushered in an urgency and necessity that cannot be ignored. Rather than hurtling toward a post-Covid mental health crisis, this pandemic must be used as an opportunity to evaluate the current provision of mental health services.

This means, once and for all, giving mental health services the long-overdue parity they have desperately needed to ensure we move forward for the better.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

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Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor