“Cabinet, don’t let mental health care (for young people) come under further pressure”
Patients, loved ones, psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health institutions find it extremely worrying that the new government pays little or no attention to the major challenges in mental health care. Despite repeated appeals from organisations such as MIND, the Dutch ggz, NVvP and NIP, mental health care remains unaddressed. Mental health was not mentioned in the throne speech and the government programme contains no specific political intentions. We see no motivation in prevention to prevent mental problems.
MIND, the Dutch Mental Health Service, NVvP and NIP are very concerned about the mental health of young people. Young people were not even mentioned in the Speech from the Throne. Last year, one in five young people had mental problems. Investing in the mental health of young people is crucial to prevent their problems from getting worse, leading to unnecessarily poorer well-being and the need for more intensive care later in life. It is incomprehensible that the government has not announced any concrete plans for this group.
Disappointment over missed opportunities for prevention
Furthermore, patients, loved ones, psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health institutions are seeing with great concern that more money is not being allocated to prevention, but rather cuts are being made. The Schoof Cabinet states in the government programme that mental health will be included in a yet-to-be-defined “prevention strategy”, but the resources do not appear to support this message and the plans remain undeveloped. Prevention is essential to prevent more and more people from becoming dependent on mental health care. These cuts will only increase the pressure on mental health care, while the demand for care and support continues to grow.
Nearly 100,000 people on the waiting list
The government also shows no urgency to help the nearly 100,000 people waiting for mental health care. Addressing these waiting lists should be a priority, but there is no prospect of improvement for this group. Ensuring sufficient treatment places, retaining and training healthcare staff, and preventing the closure of highly specialized care are not yet part of the government’s programme. Nor is the government providing additional resources to address the staff shortage, a pressing issue that is hitting mental health care hard across all sectors in the Netherlands. Despite talk of investing in technology and artificial intelligence to address this shortage, there is no actual financial support.
We are pleased that the Minister wants to reduce the administrative burden by twenty percent, so that more capacity is freed up to treat people, and we hope that she will succeed in that.
Appeal to the Council of Ministers
The patient must always be central. The mental health sector itself is also working hard to shorten waiting times. This includes using digital and blended forms of care. At the end of this year, people with mental health problems in almost all regions will be able to have an exploratory conversation, where we will discuss with them whether mental health care is needed or whether other help is more appropriate. We advocate that this should always be done from the patient’s perspective and include experiential knowledge. In this way, we hope to prevent people from entering mental health care unnecessarily. For example, sometimes debt counselling or other forms of support from the social sphere are more appropriate. However, for this approach, it is crucial that the social sphere is and remains adequately funded, as well as dedicated housing for people leaving mental health care.
Political support is essential for the success of these initiatives. MIND, the Dutch Mental Health Service, NVvP and NIP call on the Cabinet to invest in mental health, health care workers and a sustainable health care system that provides room for innovation and prevention.
The first reaction is to analyze the budgets.
This is our first response to the government’s plans. We are currently reviewing the budgets and will provide a detailed response soon once our analysis is complete.
