£2.5m Mental Health Plan Is Welcomed

A top psychiatrist in Edinburgh has welcomed moves by the Scottish Executive to invest £2.5 million in improving mental health services. The sweeping reforms will ensure everyone who works with children has received basic training in mental health issues.

The plan also outlines a commitment to reducing the spend on anti-depressants and improving care in the community to prevent mentally ill patients being readmitted to hospital.

Dr Tom Brown, chairman of the city-based Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said: “The plan – as well as the new targets – underlines the Executive’s increased emphasis on the importance of the promotion of good mental health and the care and treatment of the mentally ill.”

Launching the plan, deputy health minister Lewis Macdonald said: “Improvements to access and quality of services will meet the needs of everyone, from the quarter of the population who will experience mild to moderate mental ill-health in their lifetime, to the two per cent of people who will experience severe and enduring mental illness.”