A WOMAN suffering from a severe mental health condition has waited almost a year for treatment.

Laura Goodacre, from York, has seen nearly 350 days go by without receiving psychological therapy to treat her bipolar disorder, an ordeal which has forced her to raise the issue with Hugh Bayley, MP for York Central.

Mr Bayley yesterday spoke in the House of Commons on behalf of Miss Goodacre and asked Norman Lamb, the Minister for Care and Support, to look into the situation as her case exceeds the 125-day average wait experienced by other patients in the city.

The average waiting time in England is only 39.5 days.

Miss Goodacre’s condition has been stabilised through medication, and she receives care from her GP and support from York Mind, but she contacted Mr Bayley to ask him to find out how long people in York and Yorkshire have to wait on average for treatment with psychological therapies.

She said: “I reached out to Mr Bayley as it’s all well and good complaining about the waiting times without trying to do something about it. I asked for an honest answer about waiting times in our area and Mr Bayley kept his word and supplied me with a full summary of waiting times across England.

“It wasn’t good reading, York is are eighth bottom out of 214 clinical care groups in the country. Thankfully Mr Bayley shares my concerns and has taken them further on my behalf, asking important questions about what the Vale of York CCG are going to do to improve waiting times and access to talking therapies.”

The Press has previously reported how patients suffering from serious mental health conditions have been sent to beds as far afield as Glasgow, London, Middlesbrough and Manchester due to a lack of suitable treatment or available places locally.

Mr Bayley said: “People like Laura and other constituents who have contacted me about being unable to get mental health services need to be able to get on with their lives.

“It is unacceptable they are having to wait as long as this to be treated.

“It is another example of the postcode lottery in the National Health Service, which should be providing the same standard of treatment in all parts of the country.

“The Government needs to act now to improve waiting times in York and the other places that are failing to provide an adequate service to people with mental health problems.”