Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) quality of care and (b) adequacy of support provided to mental health patients by caseworkers in community mental health teams.

The mental health workforce plan, ‘Stepping Forward: a mental health workforce plan for England’ sets out an ambition for 21,000 new posts across the mental health system occupied by 19,000 new staff. This plan also includes the aim for 6000 full time posts in mental health trusts to come through improved retention.

Under the NHS Long Term Plan, we have announced a £975 million investment in transforming community mental health services. The first tranche of funding will provide 12 pilot sites with 1,000 extra staff and bring together primary and specialist care to better support people’s physical and mental health and better link with other local services such as housing.