Mental health care quality continues to be poor with experiences in some areas of care plunging to their lowest point in eight years.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said nearly half of respondents to its survey reported their mental health had deteriorated due to changes made to their care and treatment due to the pandemic.
Those with more challenging and severe non-psychotic disorders, as well as those with complicated cognitive impairment and dementia disorders, consistently reported worse than average experiences when compared with those with psychotic disorders.
People aged 18-35 also reported worse than average experiences compared to those aged 66 and older.
Patients receiving telephone-based care reported worse than average experiences for overall experience, access, communication and respect and dignity. However, people who received care using video conferencing technology reported better than average experiences in these areas.
The CQC’s Community Mental Health Survey received responses from 17,322 people who used NHS community mental health services in England during 2020 and 2021.
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Its findings also showed:
- Just over a quarter of people (26%) would not know who to contact out of hours in the NHS if they had a crisis. Of those who did try to contact this person or team, a fifth did not get the help they needed (20%) or could not contact them (3%).
- Around a fifth of people (17%) reported care and services were not available when they needed them in the last 12 months.
- Just over half (56%) of people said they were given enough time to discuss their needs and treatment. This is the lowest result in eight years.
- Two in five people (41%) said they had “definitely” seen enough of the services they relied upon to manage their condition.
- Of those who had been told who is in charge of organising their care, 96% knew how to contact this person or team and 90% of people felt the person who organised their care did so ‘very well’ or ‘quite well’.
CQC deputy chief inspector and lead for mental health Jemima Burnage said: “Not being able to access the right care and support when it is needed increases the risk of an individuals’ mental health deteriorating.
“This is a longstanding challenge, which has been exacerbated by the increased demand on mental health services due to Covid-19.
“It is therefore deeply concerning to see people’s experiences of community mental health services are so poor, particularly at a time when the number of people needing expert care for a mental health condition has increased.”
Burnage added the pandemic has placed severe strain on all health services and the staff working in them, including mental health services.
“The negative impact of working under this sustained pressure, including anxiety, stress and burnout, cannot be underestimated,” she continued.
“As we have previously reported, people’s experiences of mental health services were poor prior to the pandemic, which is why it has never been more important that services are given the right support to be able to meet increased demand.”