Funding mental health at local level: unpicking the variation

Funding mental health at local level: unpicking the variation A new survey has found that the government’s commitment to parity of esteem between mental and physical health services is being undermined by a failure to ensure funding increases reach the frontline.

The report surveyed finance directors in mental health trusts and chief finance officers in clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to understand how the parity of esteem commitment is being implemented locally. More than half (55%) of England’s mental health trusts responded, along with 10% of CCGs. The report, Funding mental health at local level: unpicking the variation reveals that:

• Only half (52%) of providers reported that they had received a real terms increase in funding of their services in 2015/16.
• There is limited confidence that funding increases will be delivered this year, with only a quarter (25%) of providers saying they were confident that their commissioners were going to increase the value of their contracts for 2016/17.
• There is a lack of alignment between commissioners and providers over what it means to implement parity of esteem – there is confusion over what services should be covered, and how much investment should be made.

The report calls for greater clarity and transparency from the government and leaders of the arms-length bodies. NHS Providers and the Healthcare Financial Management Association

See also

• Funding parity of esteem: mind the gap NHS Providers
• Mental health services must get the funding they need The Guardian
• NHS mental health funding is still lagging behind, says report The Guardian