Recommendation 102

HM Government Accepted

The UK Government has noted the Committee’s recommendation in relation to advertising avenues to mental health support for the shooting community and also the points made about the particular challenges faced by rural communities traumatised by fatal shootings, recommending that the UK and Scottish Governments work together to provide more mental health resources in these areas or that could be easily accessed when tragedies involving firearms happen. The Scottish Affairs Committee recommended that the Government should support the shooting community in advertising avenues to mental health support, to build on the recent release of leaflets in Scotland about mental health in that community, and that the UK and Scottish Government work together to support the distribution of materials such as the mental health leaflets produced by shooting organizations. We are consulting and would welcome views on this recommendation as to whether and how a similar form of leaflet on mental health could be made available throughout the United Kingdom, and we have been in discussion with the Scottish Government and Police Scotland about the work already undertaken in Scotland. Health services are a devolved matter and services are delivered separately in England, Wales and Scotland. We recognize the need to ensure people in rural areas have access to mental health services. We are taking action to increase access to mental health services including for people in rural settings. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to investing an additional £2.3billion a year into mental health services by 2023/24. This will allow two million more people to get the mental health support they need. As part of this, we are increasing access to NHS Talking Therapies across all parts of England, including rural areas. NHS Talking Therapies provide evidence-based support for a range of common mental health conditions. Since the onset of the pandemic, remote access to NHS talking therapies has increased significantly, from approximately 33% of appointments being delivered via phone/ webcam and other virtual means to a high of 97% during the peak of the pandemic. As services return to more in-person face to face delivery, activity can still be delivered via remote technologies. This means patients can access therapy from the comfort of their own homes where they choose to do so. For rural communities where access to NHS talking therapies services may have been compromised in the past because it required long journeys to community hubs, patients now have a greater choice in how they receive therapy, and hence easier access. Even though many rural communities have poor internet coverage, therapy is being delivered via the telephone, SMS messaging, email or via digital packages that do not require the patient and therapist to be online simultaneously. NHS talking therapies are available on a self-referral basis and we have set national waiting time standard, which we are currently meeting, that 75% of people referred to NHS talking therapies services should start treatment within 6 weeks of referral, and 95% should start treatment within 18 weeks of referral.