Thank you for contacting me about mental healthcare and the BACP's campaign on mental health provision.
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 outbreak, and the associated restrictions has exposed gaps already present in the Welsh mental health service, as well as the important need to improve mental healthcare in Wales.
My colleagues and I in the Welsh Conservatives further understand that continual lockdowns can be detrimental to mental health and that people who do not have access to mental health support are at risk of being undermined by layered issues. As was clear during the first lockdown, demand for mental health care changed abruptly with fewer seeking help, despite coping with isolation and stress.
It is therefore vital that the Labour Welsh Government takes decisive action to help treat those struggling with their mental health and help people to identify ways of managing mental health, potentially by introducing a healthy lifestyle or by keeping stress levels under control, as well as ensuring people are able to access therapy if needed.
While I welcome the introduction of a Minister for Mental Health to focus resources on mental health support in Wales, I believe that, as the Welsh Government has been given a significant uplift in their finances to fight COVID-19, more needs to be invested into support for mental health. As the UK Conservative Government's Chancellor allocated £500 million to help provide more people with the mental health support they need, as well as to address mental health waiting times in England, we believe that Wales should have a similar ambition.
Meanwhile, mental health waiting times have further slipped in Wales in the wake of COVID-19, with a large drop in referrals during March and April meaning backlogs are rising and service users are presenting to healthcare professionals later. I and my colleagues in the Welsh Conservatives have consistently called for the Welsh NHS to have a recovery plan in place so that mental health service users can get the treatment they need, quickly. Sadly, these calls have been left unheeded by the Welsh Labour-led Government.
My Welsh Conservative colleagues and I in the Welsh Parliament will monitor this area closely and will continue to scrutinise the Welsh Government’s progress. Given the substantial Barnett consequentials received in 2020 from the UK Government to combat COVID-19 – worth over £5.2 billion – we will be working to ensure that this is spent wisely on a range of services, including mental health, therapy and counselling. My colleague, the Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, David Melding MS, will also raise the issues you outline for therapists directly with the Minister for Health.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Mark
