Wes Streeting orders review of mental health diagnoses as benefit claims soar | Mental health
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has ordered a clinical review into the diagnosis of mental health problems, according to reports.
Streeting is said to be concerned about a sharp increase in the number of people making sick pay claims due to diagnoses of mental illness, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the Times reported.
He has asked leading experts to investigate whether normal feelings have become “too pathologised”, the paper says, as he seeks to tackle the 4.4 million working age people now claiming sickness or incapacity benefits.
This figure has increased by 1.2 million since 2019, while the number of young people aged 16 to 34 stopped working due to long-term illness due to a mental health problem is believed to have increased rapidly over the same period.
Streeting told The Times that he knows from “personal experience how devastating it can be for people facing poor mental health, ADHD or autism who cannot get a diagnosis or the appropriate support”.
He added: “I also know, from talking to clinicians, how the diagnosis of these diseases is sharply increasing.
“We need to look at this from a strictly clinical lens to get an evidence-based understanding of what we know, what we don’t know, and what these models tell us about our mental health system, our autism and ADHD services.
“This is the only way to ensure that everyone has timely access to accurate diagnosis and effective support.”
The study, due to launch on Thursday, is expected to be led by Professor Peter Fonagy, a clinical psychologist at University College London who specializes in children’s mental health, with Sir Simon Wessely, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatry, as vice-chair.
Fonagy told The Times: “We will look carefully at the evidence – from research, from people with lived experience and from clinicians working on the front lines of mental health, autism and ADHD services – to understand, in a concrete way, what is driving the growing demand. »
The move comes as ministers seek to tackle the growing welfare bill.
Earlier this year, ministers were forced to abandon plans to reform disability benefits, including for people with mental health problems, in the face of backbench Labor opposition.
Keir Starmer said on Monday that the government would accelerate welfare reform.
He said: “We have to transform it; we must also confront the reality that our welfare state traps people not only in poverty, but also in unemployment. »
PA Media contributed to this report
