The Number of People Needing Mental Health Care Could Top Ten Million.

 

A leading mental health campaign group has given a stark warning that the number of people needing support for mental health problems in the UK after the pandemic could reach ten million.

 

In a report Cocid-19 and the nation’s mental health [1] published this month The Centre for Mental Health predict that demand for NHS mental health services will three times the capacity with which they can cope within the next three to five years.

 

The report has been based on analysis of 200 high-quality academic studies from around the world by clinicians, researchers and economists working for the NHS and the Centre for Mental Health.

 

The report identifies several key groups who are at a greater risk of experiencing poor mental health due to the pandemic. These include those who have been treated for Covid-19 in intensive care, the bereaved, healthcare staff and people who have been impacted economically by the pandemic.

 

In a statement on their website the Centre for Mental Health welcome the investment made by the government in mental health services but go onto say that it is ‘clear that Government and the NHS must take action now to meet a very steep increase in demand for mental health support. It is also vital to develop services to meet the specific needs arising from the pandemic – for example, specialist bereavement support and evidence-based help for those with trauma symptoms’.

 

Among the predictions made in the report, which is the fourth in a series published by the charity are that 8068 adults who have been treated for covid in intensive care may need mental health support; 40% of NHS critical care staff could suffer post-traumatic stress due to their experiences over the past year and a half and that many of the people forced to claim benefits when the economy closed down may suffer mental health problems.

 

In total the report suggests some 10,023,453, including 1.5 million children, may need support with their mental health over the next three to five years.

 

Anyone who has tried to seek help for themselves or a relative from NHS mental health services knows it can be a complicated and sometimes confrontational business. This was true before the pandemic; in its wake things could get much worse.

 

Huge backlogs caused by services being closed as the NHS focussed on dealing with coronavirus cases will stretch services and budgets to their limit. Even with the promise of extra money from government there is a strong possibility mental health, always a Cinderella when it comes to attention and funding, could still miss out.

 

That, as this report shows, could create a devastating social and economic catastrophe. One that dwarfs the pandemic in its long-term impact.

 

[1]https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/publication/download/CentreforMentalHealth_COVID_MH_Forecasting4_May21.pdf

 

 

 

 

Woodland in the UK is Under Threat Like Never Before.

 

The difficulties of the past year and a half have thrown into sharp relief the value of woodland and other green spaces in helping us to maintain our physical and mental wellbeing.

 

A report published by the Woodland Trust highlights the perilous state of much of the country’s woodland.

 

Amongst its findings are that only 7% of the UK’s natural woodland in is a healthy condition and despite the amount of woodland cover slowly increasing, there is less wildlife to be found there.

 

A copy The State of the UK’s Woods and Trees report [1] has been sent to the government and the campaign group will us it to inform their future activities.

 

In a press statement chief executive of the Woodland Trust Darren Moorcroft said “The challenges UK woods and trees face are not unsurmountable. But overcoming them will take urgent action from government and continuing work from charities like us”.

 

Earlier this week the government unveiled its England Trees Action Plan [2], included in which is an ‘aim’ to achieve 12% woodland cover by ‘mid-century’. The Plan also includes aims to increase tree planting across the UK to 30,0000 hectares a year and to spend £500 million of the £640million Nature for Climate fund on woodlands in England by 2025.

 

Writing in the forward to the plan Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice says the government’s pledge is to not only to stem the tide of nature loss, but to turn it around – to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. The England Trees Action Plan is central to this. It sets out our long-term plan for the whole treescape - trees, woodlands and forests. It includes our vision for trees in 2050 and the economic, environmental, and social benefits that we will realise through our new trees and woodlands”.

 

Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth have criticised the plan as “inadequate” and “frankly not worth the paper its written on”. They went on to describe the proposal to hold a public consultation on setting a binding target for increasing woodland cover next year as a “ridiculous” delay “given the urgency of the nature and climate emergencies”. Friends of the Earth have also criticised the plan for leaving the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales to do much of the “heavy lifting” when it comes to restoring woodland cover.

 

The need to protect woodland in the UK and elsewhere is emphasised by the findings of a research project by the University of Wisconsin-Madison published in the Journal Science [3].

 

Scientists found that Earth’s vegetation is changing at a faster rate than at any other time in the past 18,000 years and human actions may be to blame. Intensive land use for agriculture and climate change have been cited as probable causes all of which began as humans became the dominant species some 4000 years ago.

 

In the face of a climate crisis that has the potential to be massively destructive there is a need for governments to act quickly and decisively. A tepid plan for a limited increase for tree cover in England with no firm target or timetable for acting, just a lot of Westminster waffle about working with stakeholders and holding yet another consultation from the UK government shows neither quality.

 

Until the words stop and the action starts and there is a clear benchmark for measuring how effective any policy has been delivered change and recovery for our woodlands looks sadly unlikely.

 

[1] https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/media/49731/state-of-the-uks-woods-and-trees-2021-the-woodland-trust.pdf

[2]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/987432/england-trees-action-plan.pdf

[3]https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/climate-crisis-is-driving-fastest-change-in-global-vegetation-in-18000-years/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green Spaces are Vital to Our Wellbeing and Now is the Time to Protect them from Development.

 

Green Party activists in Stoke-on-Trent have written to the council calling for parks and green spaces in the city to be protected from development.

 

The letter states that the ‘experience of the past year has taught us the value of our home environment and its impact on our physical and mental wellbeing’ and goes on to say this is that having ‘green space within close walking distance of home is hugely beneficial, particularly for individuals and households who do not have access to a private garden’.

 

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that 12% of UK households have no access to a private or shared garden, in London this rises to 21%. Access to public parks is more evenly distributed with 86% of households having access to one within ‘easy walking distance’ of their home [1].

 

The letter cites research produced by academics from Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University and published in the journal Landscape & Urban Planning that examines the experience of people living in the UK during the first peak of the pandemic [2].

 

The research shows that access to public or private green spaces is a key protective factor for health and wellbeing. Private gardens and public green spaces such as parks are, the article concludes, areas deserving consideration as an ‘essential health resource in times of crisis’.

 

A spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said, “we all know how valuable parks and green spaces are to our health and wellbeing”, adding that “what we want is to make sure that those in our city are protected in perpetuity”.

 

The latter calls on the city council to work with the charity Fields in Trust to create a Deed of Protection covering the city’s parks and other green spaces. This would put in place robust protection for these sites whilst they would continue to be managed by the council [3].

 

The letter has been written as a response to the public consultation on the Local Plan being prepared by the council that will inform development in Stoke-on-Trent for the next two decades.

 

The spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said, “any local plan that does not place adequate value on green spaces will not be fit for purpose”, adding that there is a “need to build communities not just housing and access to nature is integral to doing so”.

 

Research produced by Fields in Trust shows that parks and green spaces in the UK have a ‘wellbeing value’ equivalent to £ 34.2 billion and that being able to easily access green spaces saves the NHS £111 million in reduced GP visits alone [4]. The potential savings to the NHS could be even greater as the service struggles with a backlog caused by the pandemic that could see 10% of patients having to wait more than a year for treatment [5]

 

The North Staffs Green Party spokesperson said, “it is more than clear that protecting our parks and green spaces is vitally important and that is why we are calling on the council to take this opportunity to act”.

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/oneineightbritishhouseholdshasnogarden/2020-05-14

[2]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204621000554?via%3Dihub

[3]http://www.fieldsintrust.org/what-is-protection

[4] http://www.fieldsintrust.org/Upload/file/research/Revaluing-Parks-and-Green-Spaces-Summary.pdf

[5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57092797