Professor Wendy Burn, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “We welcome the promise from government this morning that spending on mental health will increase as a proportion of NHS spend over the next five years and look forward to seeing the detail of how this is to be delivered.
“It would take around £2.5 billion to achieve this, so we are keen to see the detail of how that is to be made up – perhaps in the NHS long-term plan later this year.
“In addition more money is needed for things like maintaining mental health care buildings and putting into practice the recommendations of the Mental Health Act Review.
“The focus on younger people and crisis services is welcome, but this mustn’t be at the expense of the vital community mental health services which treat so many people with mental illness.”
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