Tweet

Jonathan Ashworth

10 Oct, 12 tweets, 5 min read

1. Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay. A chance to talk about mental health & how we can better support good mental health.

The past 18 months have impacted the country's mental health like never before. The number of people contacting the NHS for support is at a record high. 🧵

2. But thousands of people are going without the mental health support they need. Services are stretched, under-resourced and under-funded.

There is just 1 psychiatrist working in the NHS for every 12,500 people.
news.sky.com/story/one-psyc…

@drrosena

3. Research by @drrosena found the number of mental health beds is down 25% on 2010.

This means there's fewer beds for people reaching mental health crisis & more people are sent miles from home, away from their support network to receive care.

theguardian.com/society/2021/j…

@rcpsych

4. Ministers promised to end these shameful 'out of area placements' but sending people miles from home for treatment continues - a practice which the Royal College of Psychiatrists, @rcpsych, has called 'disastrous'.

theguardian.com/society/2021/s…

5. Cuts to mental health services have also left the NHS spending ££ on poor quality private mental health providers.

My analysis research found almost half of independent mental health services are currently rated poorly by the CQC for safety.
independent.co.uk/news/health/la…

6. This failure to invest in a prioritise mental health is letting the country down. Labour’s approach would be different.

By investing in services that reach people in need of mental health help early, we’d give people the support they need before they reach crisis point.

7. This means recruiting and training more staff - over 8,500 of them - to treat more than 1 million extra patients a year and ensure that everyone who needs help gets it within 1 month.

8. It also means investing in children’s mental health services as part of our big commitment on children’s health & well-being.

1 in 6 children now experience a mental health problem.

Labour would ensure mental health professionals in every school.

@Keir_Starmer

9. At #Lab21 @Keir_Starmer re-committed Labour to establishing a network of open-access mental hubs for children and young people - something I’ve been championing for years having visited similar charity ran hubs.

@UKLabour

10. @UKLabour are committed to transforming mental health services backed by investment that will never see NHS mental health spending fall. This will ensure more people get treatment – and we’ll ensure people receive the help they need within a month.

11. As we recover from the pandemic, promoting good mental health, ensuring services are available when people need it and ensuring children get the help they need must be our priority.

12. Building the healthy society where we value #mentalhealth is about improving the conditions in which we live & work. Tackling the determinants of poor health has our laser like focus as we do all we can to support people to long longer, healthier, happier lives. Ends 🧵

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More from @JonAshworth

Jonathan Ashworth

@JonAshworth

4 Feb

1. UNICEF warn ‘children are not the face of this pandemic. But they risk being amongst its biggest victims.’

Children are missing social interaction & play. Learning is not the same.

It’s our priority especially in #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek that every child’s health matters.

2. While children’s health has long been one of my top priorities, I am more worried than ever about how tough things are for young people today. As a parent I’m struck by how often my own children ask “when will coronavirus end?”
#ChildrensMentalHealthWeek

@NHSDigital

3. Mental health problems in children are on the rise – from 1 in 9 in 2017 to 1 in 6 in 2020, according to figures from @NHSDigital. And during the pandemic things have been tougher than ever.

Read 11 tweets

Jonathan Ashworth

@JonAshworth

30 Jan

@russelldavies63

1. Last night I finished #ItsASin @russelldavies63, the director, amazing cast have given us a beautiful gift with #ItsASin. The 80s music, the politics, the friendship. Perfect. Fun but also serious. By episode 3 (no spoilers) I was in bits. Tears continued until the end #La

2. I’ve never worried sex could result in a death sentence. Even as the child of an alcoholic, have never had that sense of loneliness, nor fear of dying alone. Nor had my life stigmatised. While HIV can affect everyone, #ItsASin demonstrates why it lives in the LGBT experience

3. Thankfully the HIV/AIDS of the #ItsASin period is very different to HIV today – it is not a death sentence, those diagnosed early have normal life expectancy, those on treatment CANT PASS IT ON, and we have a HIV prevention drug #PrEP to help people stay negative.

Read 10 tweets

Jonathan Ashworth

@JonAshworth

31 Jul 20

1. Its welcome there is Boris Johnson press conference. I totally understand the need for the restrictions announced last night - the ONS estimates infections are rising, we’re seeing a resurgence in Europe, we have the highest excess deaths in Europe & ministers were too slow.

2. But the way in which you restrictions were announced has caused confusion, upset and anxiety. In a pandemic we need clarity from ministers not muddle. At the Press Conferenve Johnson should explain:

3. MPs in areas impacted were invited onto a 8.30 zoom call last night at 8.04. I appreciate the briefing but surely there the govt can put in place a better procedure for announcing decisions like this.

Read 13 tweets

Jonathan Ashworth

@JonAshworth

31 May 20

1. Labour called for the lockdown. We were concerned social distancing measures were not being adhered to. We will continue to argue easing of restrictions must be done gradually with caution and safely.

2. This virus hasn’t gone away, it could easily get out of control again. While we are past peak we still have thousands of cases daily and as the Deputy CMO indicated yesterday we still don’t fully understand why.

3. Hundreds are still losing their life to this horrific disease every week. We have one of the highest excess death rates in world (amongst nations that produce the data).

Read 16 tweets

Jonathan Ashworth

@JonAshworth

23 Apr 20

1. Labour called for the lockdown but we’ve always warned it was a blunt tool unless we used this time to develop a testing, isolate and trace strategy.

We’ve asked why tracing was missing from the government strategy so today’s announcement is important.

2. But we were promised 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. Not testing capacity at 100,000. We’re still not carrying out the numbers of tests we need to. In particular we should be doing so much more to test care workers. They shouldn’t have to travel miles for a test.

3. So far there has been confusion over the importance of contact tracing.

On 17th April Matt Hancock floated the possibility of restarting community testing, contact tracing and quarantine, a policy the government abandoned on 12th March

Read 10 tweets

Jonathan Ashworth

@JonAshworth

22 Mar 20

1. Ahead of the next government press conference we’re urging the Prime Minister to set out the serious next steps needed to tackle this virus.

2. Far too many people are either confused by the government’s social distancing measures or choose to ignore them. This cannot continue in a public health emergency. Ministers must explain how they escalate the response.

3. We have called for and welcomed measures including banning mass gatherings and pub closures. But if social distancing measures are not working the government must take stronger action.

Read 6 tweets

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