Mental health sidelined in key waiting list policy

Only two mental health trusts are known to be using the advice and guidance (A&G) system, and it should be used “much more broadly” in the sector, Rebecca Gray told HSJ.

A&G was introduced under the last government, but the current administration is pressing for a big expansion this year, introducing payments to GP practices each time they use it from this month. 

Ms Gray, who joined Confed earlier this year from the Maudsley Charity, said it was a good policy but so far was mainly focused on physical health, and she wanted to work with the network’s trust members to expand it.

Mental health is largely not covered by the main referral-to-treatment waiting list, nor the government’s headline target to reduce RTT waits to less than 18 weeks. Data on MH waits is poor, but it suggests tens of thousands of children and adults are waiting longer than two years.

Ms Gray said: ”Mental health services can and should play a crucial role in these kinds of initiatives. We know that mental ill health is placing a huge demand on GPs and their teams. This can not only be difficult for services to manage but frustrating for patients, who can often be left facing long waits to get the support they need if their condition is not best managed in primary care.”

She said GPs should be incentivised to “reach out to specialist mental health teams to support people more quickly [which] could help tackle these issues before they get worse”.

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Source: HSJ,  22 April 2025