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Petition Number: P-06-1405 Petition title: We want and need a Mental Health unit for men in north Wales with beds. Text of petition: There are so many men suffering with mental health issues. It was bad enough before lockdown but now it’s devastating. As a landlady, I can see for myself the many men struggling with many issues. They are crying out for help and told to speak up and ask for help, yet when they do it is non-existent. |
The type and severity of mental health problems people experience can be varied and therefore a range of support and treatments are available. GPs are often the first point of contact with mental health services and for some people, the support given by a GP is enough to manage their mental health.
GPs can refer individuals to Local Primary Mental Health Support Services (LPMHSS) that offer support such as counselling, psychological interventions, stress and anxiety management, voluntary groups and signposting to other sources of support. For those who require more help than a LPMHSS can provide, they can be referred to Community Mental Health Teams that provide more specialist help.
Some people have severe and complex mental health problems which require more specialised care and support and may be referred on to secondary care, which could include hospital inpatient services.
Further information on mental health services in Wales is available on the NHS 111 Wales website.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (UHB) has a Mental Health Hub available on its website which provides information on mental health support resources and how to access them. These include hubs that can be accessed on a drop in basis; free online mental health therapy; talking therapies; the C.A.L.L. Mental Health Helpline for Wales, and a range of online self-help resources.
Urgent mental health support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is available to people of all ages by phoning 111 and selecting option 2. Information on support in a mental health crisis is available on the Health Board’s website.
There are a number of Community Mental Health Teams across the Betsi Cadwaladr UHB area and inpatient facilities are also available, with proposals for a new inpatient mental health unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital currently progressing.
The Welsh Government is publishing a new draft Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2024- 2034), that is open for public consultation until 11 June 2024, along with a new draft Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention Strategy. People are encouraged to respond to the consultations as they will further inform the Welsh Government’s future priorities.
In the letter to the Committee (dated 19 March 2024), the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing says the Welsh Government recognises there are some specific groups in society who are less likely to reach out for healthcare support, which includes men. The Deputy Minister states that men continue to be a priority group in the Welsh Government’s Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention Strategy and also gives an example of an initiative to support men’s mental health.
The Welsh Government’s vision for mental health in Wales and details of the aims and focus of the draft strategies are set out in the Deputy Minister’s letter. The strategies recognise that people’s needs are diverse and not everyone will need access to clinical or specialist mental health services. The Welsh Government’s aim is to build on the success of easy to access support such as 111 press 2 and online cognitive behavioural therapy, alongside broader approaches to continue to improve support in schools, workplaces and the community.
The Deputy Minister highlights that 41 per cent of callers to 111 press 2 are male, “which demonstrates that the service is successful in providing a model of support that is accessible for men”.
In relation to establishing a mental health unit for men, the letter from the Deputy Minister notes:
Any future consideration in relation to establishing a mental health unit for men in North Wales would need to align with existing work already underway to review current service provision. The draft Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy has been informed by the work the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee has undertaken to develop future specialist mental health capacity. During the last 18-24 months, we have also reviewed a range of information from Wales, across the UK and wider to inform the strategies. All of the modelling suggests an increase in mental health needs if we do not continue to invest in prevention, earlier intervention and whole system working.
The Health and Social Care Committee held an inquiry into mental health inequalities and published its report, Connecting the dots: tackling mental health inequalities in Wales, in December 2022.
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Every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this briefing is correct at the time of publication. Readers should be aware that these briefings are not necessarily updated or otherwise amended to reflect subsequent changes. |