Larry Spoons wrote: ↑Thu Nov 04, 2021 7:57 pm
I have stalked this site for long enough to know that it doesn't do politics, so I hope it's ok for me to say that I
have often wondered if large sums could be saved on the Criminal Justice budget by spending a little more on mental health provision.
I suppose that does count as politics in the wider definition but you're unlikely, IMHO, to find anybody on this forum from anywhere on the political spectrum that disagrees with you. It's just plain common sense which seems to be lacking on this subject in politicians every stripe and colour.
My experience of the mental health provision in this country is from the 'mostly law abiding and not been caught for the rest' end and could best be summarised as "I didn't know we had any". Two years ago I basically had my fill of the MH system when my new, third that year, psychiatrist could barely speak English, which I would have thought was particularly important in psychiatry, and was clearly far more insane than I have ever been. After I honestly answered the question "do you drink or take drugs" with "It has been known" she sent a letter to my GP saying I had asked to be referred to a drug and alcohol service to treat my addictions. Four pints twice a week in the pub and the occasional Big Cigarette... Addiction? I ask you. I got a copy of the letter and that's when I saw my arse. Now I just tell my GP what I want prescribed and he trusts me to know my own bonce better than he does. In that sense I'm lucky in that I have good insight and usually know when I'm bonkers.
Mental Health nurses I've always found to be excellent and doing the best they can against impossible odds. Psychiatrists in general I have a far lower opinion of and having seen them getting steadily worse over the decades I can only assume the NHS is now scraping the bottom of the barrel.
I very much doubt spending a little more on mental health would save large sums in the criminal justice system but spending a lot more might. It would probably still "turn a profit" in financial terms to say nothing of the social terms. The last time I was speaking semi-socially to a cop she said that acting as ad-hoc mental-health social workers took up a good percentage of their time and mental health issues were responsible for another good percentage of what was left. I'm not a huge fan of the wallopers but they do a remarkably good job on the whole of their imposed MH social work role... But they shouldn't have to.
I might be straying into party politics but I doubt it as it was pretty much supported by all the parties but... I wonder how much better the MH system would be if it got just 1% of the funding that has been spent on the pandemic.