Dear Mr Hunt,
As you may have heard deaths from eating disorders have risen 65% in the past three years, prison suicides are at a record high and one in three headteachers are worried about students suffering with depression.
Resources in the NHS for both inpatient and outpatient treatment are massively overstretched and a large number of people are being sent away from services that they so desperately need as hospital beds are not available and staff are having to deal with too many patients.
I understand the national deficit has to be reduced and the only real way to get out of debt is to stop spending, however people are cutting their lives short because the help they need is simply unavailable as hospitals and doctors have no money.
These figures need to change. In theory 100% of deaths from mental health conditions are preventable so why is mental health not taken as seriously as its’ physical counterpart? Every percentage and every statistic are people’s lives; people’s sons and daughters, people’s mothers and fathers, peoples brothers and sisters.
Please remember that next time you are planning on where to spend money.
Yours Sincerely
Richard
