It may seem as if we have been here before, and that nothing will ever get better. Investigative reporting finds that services for the mentally ill are inadequate and in extreme cases abusive. Inquiries are carried out. Bucks are passed. Sometimes, ministers take responsibility and promise improvements. Sometimes even prime ministers, with the power to increase budgets, say the right things. Theresa May was the last prime minister to make mental health a priority and to sound as if she meant it.
The pessimist will say that mental health will always be undervalued and underfunded, and that rhetoric about parity of esteem between physical and mental health care will never change anything. But The Independent, as a young and optimistic news organisation, argues that things are improving, if too slowly, and that decent, caring and well-run services for people with mental health problems are possible.
Admittedly, our joint investigation with Sky News has found appalling cases of abuse. We reported that teenagers at facilities run by a private-sector provider were pinned down, force-fed and excessively drugged. Our interviews with 22 young people make for uncomfortable reading, but we urge readers, concerned professionals and ministers to study them in order to understand the scale of the problem.
