Holly Lynch MP From Halifax, For Halifax
Holly Lynch MP says lack of mental health investment and poor ambulance service performance are symptoms of a local NHS crisis.
A Freedom of Information request has revealed further cuts to mental health services by Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group as a proportion of their overall spending.
Following disproportionate cuts last year, the Government said it would ensure all CCGs increased mental health budgets in line with the increase in their total budget this year. But in many areas this has not happened, with more than a third of CCGs actually cutting the share of their budget spent on mental health this year. This includes Calderdale, which has seen one of the biggest falls in share of spending on mental health in the country.
Holly Lynch, MP for Halifax, said:
“This is another broken NHS promise on the part of the Government. The failure of the CCG to invest adequately in these services is of grave concern at a time when experts are warning of a growing crisis in mental health.
“Our local NHS as a whole is struggling and needs additional investment fast.”
Meanwhile the Care Quality Commission have released a report rating Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust as ‘Requires Improvement’. The inspection earlier this year found that the trust delivered services that were caring, but that work was needed to improve safety, effectiveness and responsiveness.
The ambulance service was failing to meet target response times for life threatening conditions, responding to less than 71% of calls within eight minutes -; well below the national target of 75%.
Ms Lynch said:
“Local NHS chiefs are set to consult on hospital changes which are likely to mean additional demands and further distances for ambulances. People will wonder how the ambulance service can be expected to cope with those additional pressures when it is already failing to provide the standard of care people need in an emergency.”