Monday, January 31, 2011

Government 'to expend £400m on mental health'

The government is planning to spend a large sum of money on tackling mental health problems in the UK, aiming to get additional people back to work. The government is to spend £400 million on tackling the way mental health is treated on the NHS, according to reports. Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg is to announce the move in the new few days, which aims to end the stigma surrounding mental health, treating it as equal to physical sickness or injury.

One target is to "cure" up to one million wounded in the next four years, in an effort to get those signed off work for mental health issues back in jobs. There will also be an emphasis on ending the "Prozac nation", in which doctors apparently just prescribe pills to patients with a variety of different conditions. This comes after findings reported by the Alzheimer's Society said that a quarter of a million individuals with dementia are being let down by their home care. Fifty per cent of carers claimed the patient was not receiving sufficient care and support.

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