We are only interested in those that are truly clean and lean, lots of us are aware that there are literally thousands of cooking blogs on the web. What’s that mean? Targets remain very limited for people with severe and enduring mental health problems.
The services have an excellent evidence base and are certainly important.
Intervention type, let alone the quality, is difficult to measure, and they serve relatively few people. Only one standard is waiting times for early intervention in psychosis services with quality defined through access to ‘NICE recommended interventions’. Therefore this complicates policy design. Plenty of people with mental health problems currently receive no support or treatment. Look, there’re constraints that need to be worked around -I’m interested in how new targets can make p use of funding and focus for mental health. This is where it starts getting very entertaining. I should explain that I worked on developing mental health targets while working at the Department of Health, before I go further. It has made me think abouttargets andmental health. Normally, it’s a pressured and difficult business, and one in which I definitely made mistakes. The question is. Have we really thought through their design and consequences?
Are we setting the targets we must, or just those that are ‘doable’? Our report uses mental health as a case study for understanding whether targets gonna be set -and found it a promising area. IAPT should now have a ‘triple lock’ applied to it. Notice, the current targets are positive for those with common mental health problems. Of course some way to go until it’s achieved everywhere,but the framework balances quality, access and need. New data out dayshould answerthe burning question in health policy -did the NHS meet the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. That’s right! Whether national initiatives in other areas mitigates this risk remains to be seen. Usually, targets currently make general secondary care services, services for children and young people, and preventative services vulnerable to deprioritisation. Polls suggestthat the NHS remains the p priority issue for voters, with only seven weeks to go until the general election. Political parties are any going to need to attempt to answer the quest.