New CQC report yet more evidence of increasing demand facing mental health services

Responding to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) annual report into the use of the Mental Health Act, Rebecca Gray, mental health director speaking on behalf of the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, said:

“This new report is yet more evidence of the increasing demand facing mental health services. 

“The CQC lays bare that unacceptable racial inequalities still exist. We welcome the acknowledgement in the report of the work members are doing to address this. The implementation of the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework and Advance Choice Documents will help reduce racial inequalities, if embedded effectively.

“A focus on interventions that keep people out of crisis and reduce detentions is crucial. Mental health providers want to accelerate change in community care, drawing on new approaches to crisis support, NHS and voluntary sector partnerships, and looking at how secondary mental health services and primary care can work together more effectively.”