Rethink: Mental health charity responds to Conservative health manifesto

Monday, 4 January 2010 12:00 AM

Mental health charity Rethink today (January 4) welcomed the early release of the Conservative Party's general election manifesto for health and urged the other parties to put their plans on the table too.

Rethink chief executive Paul Jenkins said: "The sooner the General Election debate on the future of health and social care starts in earnest the better. We are deeply worried that mental health issues will fall off the agenda if all three political parties concentrate on points scoring and not on the detailed and fundamental reform needed to improve the lives of people with severe mental illness."

Mr Jenkins welcomed Conservative plans to focus on people currently experiencing the worst health outcomes, but called for greater equality between physical and mental health provision.

"We urge the Conservatives to ensure their approach includes tackling the shocking health outcomes experienced by people with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

"If you are one of the people with schizophrenia you will die 10 years younger than a member of the general population because you experience much poorer outcomes for the major killers such as heart disease and cancer. There is an urgent need for action to improve access to both primary and secondary care to reduce these scandalous inequalities. That means a firm commitment to put mental health services on an equal footing with physical health services."

For further info or comment please call Hilary Caprani, Communications Manager on 020 7840 3144 or 07870 204583

Hilary Caprani
Communications Manager
Rethink
t: 020 7840 3144
m: 07870 204583

Working together to help everyone affected by severe mental illness recover a better quality of life.

Visit http://www.rethink.org/

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