The Situation in Scotland
Scotland is facing a profound and growing mental health crisis. Demand for support is rising faster than services can respond. Our members have shared with us that they experience long waits, inconsistent support, overstretched staff and a lack of ongoing care. Those with severe and enduring mental illness are often most affected. Members tell us this impacts every part of their lives, from their health and relationships to their ability to work or study.
The next Scottish Government must place mental illness and mental ill health at the centre of national priorities.
The Human Cost
Members describe a system that is fragmented, stretched and, at times, unsafe. People regularly wait beyond target times for support. Some receive excellent care while others struggle to access any at all. The lack of co-ordination across services means people are repeatedly assessed, passed between teams or left without follow up.
People with lived experience are clear. This is not an abstract issue. It affects their ability to stay well, to live well and to flourish.
What Needs to Change: A Transformational Approach
VOX Scotland calls for bold, ambitious and long-term reform built around four pillars.
Strategy
Mental health policy must be human rights based and person-centred. Scotland needs a modernised legal framework that reflects how services are delivered today and the realities of severe and enduring mental illness.
VOX is calling for:
- A stronger focus on people with enduring mental illness
- Outcome based policy tied to Core Mental Health Standards
- Updated mental health law and faster implementation of the Mental Health Law Review
- A trained Lived Experience Advisor inside Government
- Targeted investment to reduce waits and improve crisis and ongoing care
- Renewed commitment to tackling stigma
- Better data, including patient outcomes and feedback
Funding
Investment must match need. Mental health is now a major area of unmet demand, yet spending does not reflect the growth in need.
VOX is calling for:
- A needs-based funding model rooted in prevalence of severe and enduring mental illness
• A continuum of care so people are fully supported throughout their illness, not partially helped
• Resources directed where they will have most impact
• Ringfenced funding for independent advocacy
• Multi year funding for the third sector
• Investment to modernise facilities and create safe, therapeutic environments - A new grant fund focused on those with enduring and severe mental illness
- Continued funding for anti-stigma work
Services
Service provision must be holistic, rights enabling and coordinated. Prevention is important but must not come at the expense of those with existing need.
VOX is calling for:
• Accessible and sustainable pathways for those with severe and enduring mental illness with ongoing support.
- Country wide community mental health hubs where people can self-refer
- Sufficient inpatient beds for when hospital is the safest option
- Integration of human rights as set out in the Scottish Mental Health Law Review and auditing of Core Mental Health Standards
- Full implementation of the right to independent advocacy
- Mandatory recording and monitoring of restraint and seclusion
Workforce
Staff cannot meet demand without proper support. High use of locums, short staffing and limited opportunities for training in the NHS impact both safety and outcomes. Despite an increasing role delivering vital services, the third sector faces short term funding that leads to high turnover and loss of expertise.
VOX is calling for:
• Implementation of the Psychiatry Recruitment and Retention recommendations
• Realistic workloads and protected time for training
- Trauma informed training across professions, clinical and non-clinical
- Increased peer support roles and lived experience leadership
- A recruitment drive to encourage more people to choose a career in mental health.
- New training pathways to allow people to move into mental health careers
VOX’s Unique Contribution
VOX Scotland is a national, independent, membership led organisation representing people with lived experience of mental illness. Our strength is our members. Their insight shapes policy, improves services and creates accountability.
We work with government, health boards, education providers and the third sector to make sure that the voices of people affected by mental illness are heard and acted on.