Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has a dedicated allocation of mental health funding for skin condition patients; and what steps his Department is taking to support the emotional and physical wellbeing of people with skin conditions.

There is no dedicated allocation of mental health funding for skin condition patients. Such patients can be referred by their general practitioner or other health professional to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme and can also self-refer. All clinical commissioning groups are expected to commission IAPT services integrated into physical healthcare pathways.

We are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to enable an extra two million people in England to access National Health Service-funded mental health support, including those with skin conditions. In addition, we have published the Mental Health Recovery Action Plan, supported by an additional £500 million in 2021/22 to expand talking and psychological therapies and other adult mental health services.