meIt can feel like we’ve been here before and nothing will ever get better. investigative report determines that services for the mentally ill are inadequate and, in extreme cases, abusive. Inquiries are made. Dollars are passed. Sometimes ministers take responsibility and promise improvements. Sometimes even prime ministers, with the power to increase budgets, say the right things. Theresa May was the last prime minister to do mental health a priority and sound like you mean it.
The pessimist will say that mental health will always be undervalued and underfunded, and that the rhetoric about parity in esteem between physical and mental health care will never change a thing. But the independentas a young and optimistic news organisation, it argues that things are getting better, albeit too slowly, and that decent, caring and well-run services for people with mental health problems are possible.
It is true that our joint investigation with Sky News has found horrific cases of abuse. We report that teens in facilities run by a private sector provider were restrained, force-fed, and heavily drugged. Our interviews with 22 young people make reading uncomfortable, but we urge readers, concerned professionals, and ministers to study them to understand the magnitude of the problem.
