Charlie Cooper
Health Reporter
Wednesday 30 July 2014
Family doctors have warned of the deteriorating state of mental healthcare in England, after a survey revealed that one in five had seen a patient come to harm because they could not get specialist help.
GPs reported that some patients had committed suicide or been sectioned because of a lack of available community mental health services.
More than eight in 10 GPs now believe that their local mental health teams cannot cope with caseloads, and nearly half said that the situation in their area had got even worse in the past 12 months.
The survey of 500 GPs, which was carried out by Pulse magazine, represents stark new evidence of the strain on England's mental health services, which have been disproportionately affected by NHS budget squeezes in recent years.
More: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/sharp-cuts-leave-nhs-mental-health-services-unable-to-cope-gps-say-9638112.html