Preferential use of the Sustainability and Transformation Fund (STF) has widened the funding gap between NHS mental health and acute care providers, according to a new report from the King’s Fund.
The report - Funding and staffing of NHS mental health providers: still waiting for parity - states that before STF funding, mental health trust income grew by 4.1 per cent between 2012/13 and 2016/17. STF funding increased that growth to 5.6 per cent. In comparison, acute trusts experienced a cumulative growth in income of more than 13.9 per cent between 2012/13 and 2016/17. STF funding increased the figure to 16.8 per cent.
“This may reflect current realities in the system but runs counter to ambitions of achieving parity between physical and mental health, and to the Government’s mission to tackle the burning injustices faced by those who experience mental health problems,” the organisation says.
The consistent underfunding of mental health services has contributed to staff shortages. Recent figures suggest approximately 10 per cent of all posts in specialist mental health services in England are vacant.
“The priority being given by national leaders to expanding the mental health workforce is not yet being matched by a priority to ensure there is sufficient growth of income among NHS mental health providers to support this, nor to matching the growth in funding available to acute providers,” the report states.
