Mind response to Government choices report

Posted Tuesday 9 December 2003

Mental health charity’s concerns taken on board in new patient choice plan.

Mind, the leading mental health charity, has today welcomed the Department of Health’s paper on patient choice, Building on the Best – Choice, Responsiveness and Equity in the NHS, but voiced concerns over how such ambitious plans are to be financed.

The charity, which is quoted in the report, said that the report takes on board all of the points put forward by Mind contributors to the process. Mind is particularly pleased to see the inclusion of its recommendations on involving service users in planning, running and monitoring services.

Richard Brook, Chief Executive of Mind, said:

"If the recommendations of this report are put into practice, it should lead to huge improvements in the way people with mental health problems are catered for. Mind has campaigned for mental health service users to be offered more choices and more say in their treatment for many years, and we are very pleased to see the Department of Health starting to make a real commitment to these principles. However, we have seen many such laudable initiatives which have floundered for lack of proper resourcing. What is needed now is a commitment to financing a health system which can support these principles, and a focus on achieving some tangible changes."

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