MENTAL health counselling is often called the Cinderella service and with good reason. It accounts for only 11 per cent of the NHS budget and there is nothing unusual in patients being sent 200 miles to access something as straightforward as a hospital bed.
Last year, in York and Selby, many sufferers faced a 14-month waiting list, which David Smith, then chief executive of the charity York Mind, described as “an absolutely shocking situation”.
Fortunately the picture is now less bleak. Waiting times are coming down; not dramatically, but at least they are heading in the right direction.
However, in congratulating the NHS for stepping up to the mark, we mustn’t forget there is still a long way to go. Just because mental health can’t be seen doesn’t make its treatment any less pressing.
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