Mental Health Crisis

West Yorkshire is experiencing a mental health crisis. With the number of mental health cases spiking nationally, West Yorkshire is among the highest in the country with 28,360 children and 63,755 adults on waiting lists to receive treatment for mental illnesses and treatment delays lasting over a year.

Wakefield is above average with ⅓ of my constituents suffering from mental illnesses with leading causes being poverty, debt, and poor housing. Eastmoor, in Wakefield East, has the highest reported numbers of mental illness as well as the factors previously stated.

With 1.6 million people on mental health waiting lists, 10,000 people in West Yorkshire had treatment closed before having an initial appointment. Lower than when Labour was in office, there is a decrease in the amount of mental health staff, resulting in millions of hours spent in A&E awaiting treatment instead.

Today, I spoke in Parliament to address Labour’s long-term mental health plan. In contrast to the Tories, who have scrapped their 10 year mental health plan, showing a lack of incentive and urgency to tackle the crisis, Labour will recruit thousands of new mental health staff and reduce treatment waiting lists to one month. We plan to provide mental health specialists in every school and would become the first Government to have a long term whole government plan to improve mental health outcomes.