Emerging plan to deliver more 'focused treatment' for mental health conditions

It seems official that Government ministers now dislike the word ‘reform’, a brutal and deceiving word they believe, and the Coalition prefers to greet us in gentler tones with words like ‘update’ and ‘rejuvenate’. Such is the dialogue between Central Government and the media these days, as ministers seem overwhelmingly aware of the level of anxiety in the air surroundings much of their announcements. If memory serves right, however, despite current arguments over what manifestos actually contained, wasn’t ‘change’ the word supposedly on every voter’s lips and every politician’s, including the Labour party’s, during the run up to last year’s election? Change was what we wanted and change, it would seem, is what we are getting, whether it be brutal reform or gentler updates of the current system.

Though undoubtedly second to the economy, healthcare seems to be the one alternative issue that best demonstrates this link between the political situation and public anxiety at the moment surrounding Government ‘updates’ that continue to arrive at a quickening rate. Having left the media little time to digest wide-scale changes to GP commissioning and the opening up of private sector competition, the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, is to make a further announcement this week on £400m of extra funds to achieve more extensive mental health care.

Regardless of reform’s new untrendy guise, if there is one major reform that might just pass by without anti-Coalition rhetoric adopting it to challenge the Government over the likelihood of ruining our healthcare services, then perhaps this is it. Campaigners have been lobbying Parliament furiously during the run up to the last election to secure a recognition that mental health issues, particularly the rising numbers of dementia sufferers caused by an ageing population, should be considered as among the country’s most critical issues.

Though the announcement of this drive is also said to focus greatly upon related mental health issues, such as depression and addictions, regarding which some health critics have come to name Britain a ‘Prozac nation’ due to over-prescribed medicines but a lack of specifically focused treatments. The new funds do, however, relate directly to the Coalition Agreement’s acknowledgement that dementia should be a priority among NHS and social care developments.

More measures are expected to be announced upon the challenges of care provision later in the year, when a twelve-month independent commission, one of the Coalition’s first moves once in power, reports back on the issue with its proposed direction. The issues of conditions like Alzheimer’s, however, have developed over recent years to be about far more than just the provision of care but also about an earlier diagnosis of the symptoms – crucial in achieving an effective treatment that protects against a speedier decline of cognitive ability. Campaigners against what is widely seen as a stigma upon dementia-related issues will be hoping that the more ‘focused treatment’ this week’s plan is said to unveil, will go some way to relating an awareness of what families could face should they avoid seeking early treatment or regular health checks for their loved ones.