Workers
with depression or anxiety should be fast-tracked for NHS treatment
ahead of pensioners and the unemployed with the same conditions,
according to the chief medical officer.
Professor
Dame Sally Davies said the working days lost when men and women are off
sick with mental health issues cost the economy £100 billion a year.
She
also urged employers to make it easier for staff who have been on
long-term sick leave to come back to work by starting them off on
reduced hours.
Around
70 million working days are lost because of stress, anxiety and other
mental health conditions each year, a rise of a quarter since 2009.
But campaigners warned that her proposals risked discriminating against pensioners, stay-at-home mothers and the unemployed.
They
claimed that it would undermine one of the founding principles of the
NHS, which is that it ‘provides a comprehensive service available to
all’, promoting equality by focusing on patients’ clinical need rather
than their personal circumstances.
In
a report published today, Dame Sally called on the National Institute
for Health and Care Excellence, the NHS watchdog, to weigh up the costs
of allowing workers with depression or anxiety to be fast-tracked for
treatment.
‘The costs of mental illness to the economy are astounding,’ she said.
‘I urge commissioners and decision-makers to treat mental health more like physical health.
‘Anyone with mental illness deserves good quality support at the right time.
‘One
of the stark issues highlighted in this report is that 60 to 70 per cent
of people with common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety
are in work, so it is crucial that we take action to help those people
stay in employment to benefit their own health as well as the economy.’
A spokesman for the Department of Health said it was likely that NICE would be in favour of such a policy.
Dame
Sally did not indicate whether full-time workers should be prioritised
over those who work part-time. But it would follow that their costs to
the economy would be far higher if they were off sick.
However,
Jenny Edwards, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation said:
‘Whilst we recognise the benefit of good quality work to mental health
we are concerned about the suggestion to focus the fast-tracking of care
on people of working age who are at risk of falling out of work.
‘A
health service that is free at the point of delivery should
“fast-track” all and not discriminate in favour of those who are
economically active.
+2
Around 70 million working days are
lost because of stress, anxiety and other mental health conditions each
year, a rise of a quarter since 2009 (file picture)
‘We
consider that there must be an investment in establishing a suite of
evidence-based solutions to mental ill health and support mental
well-being, particularly targeted where there are the greatest
inequalities.’
As
many as 23 per cent of women and 16 per cent of men are suffering from
depression or anxiety at any one time, according to NHS figures.
It
is thought the number of men with the conditions could be higher,
because men can be less inclined to admit they have a problem and avoid
seeing their doctor.
Professor
Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists,
said: ‘We endorse the chief medical officer’s call for employment
becoming a routine outcome indicator for mental health services – an
outcome that has real world relevance and is simple to collect.
‘We
also agree that more support is needed to keep those who are at risk of
losing their jobs from joining the ranks of the long term sick.'
