Psychiatrists
Debate between Baroness Jolly and Lord Bethell
Lord Bethell
The issue with consultant psychiatrists will take years to address. However, I reassure the noble Lord that it is not only consultants who can help with children’s mental health; so can other strata of the workforce. We are providing an extra £1.4 billion to improve specialist mental health services for children and young people. That money will be dedicated to all levels of the workforce.
Baroness Jolly (LD)
My Lords, the Minister has referred to the mix of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses who support children. If the Government’s plans are carried out, by when should every part of the country be covered to an acceptable and safe level?
Lord Bethell
The long-term plan published on 19 June announced that, by 2023, an extra 345,000 children and young people aged between nought and 25 will receive mental health support via NHS-funded mental health services. That commitment will go a long way to achieving the objective that the noble Baroness addressed.
NHS: Babylon’s GP at Hand App
Debate between Baroness Jolly and Lord Bethell
Lord Bethell
The noble Baroness raises an important question. The Government are aware of the issues faced by out-of-area commissioning, and particularly of the concerns of Hammersmith and Fulham Council. We are looking at its concerns about its budget provisioning. We do not recognise all the numbers, but we are trying to understand them better. I reassure her, however, that we are putting in measures to ameliorate the situation. We are looking at ways to disaggregate a patient list if there are large numbers of digital-first patients; we are making more timely adjustments to CCG budgets, moving to quarterly rather than annual assessments; and we are looking at how to apply technology to under-doctored areas.
Baroness Jolly (LD)
My Lords, how confident is the department that NHS England is ready to deal with the addition of a new model of access to GP services? Does the Minister have a view on whether legislation would be required to achieve this?
Lord Bethell
To date, there has been no articulation of a need for further legislation.