• One in four adults are diagnosed with a mental health problem at some point in their lives

• The government set a commitment in 2011 to achieve ‘parity of esteem’ between mental and physical health

• However, it is unclear how much it will cost to deliver parity of esteem, whilst the entire NHS is under great financial pressure.

For 2015-16, The Department of Health (DH) set out a mandate with an expectation that NHS England would introduce access and waiting time standards for mental health services by March 2016 as a part of the drive towards parity of esteem.

The NAO’s key findings include an assertion that the implementation of access and waiting time standards are directly affected by the ways in which commissioners and providers work together in an increasingly fragmented and complex system.

“…the broader challenge of fragmentation of services between mental and physical health remains. It is essential that a parity of esteem uplift is embedded so that it is delivered from the point of admission onwards” Saffron Cordery

The NAO reports that it is not clear, due to a lack of full data, how much the NHS still needs to do to achieve the access and waiting time standards. However we do know that given the current financial situation of many NHS providers, success will depend on investment, and on embedding the party of esteem principle into frontline services. 

Read the full press statement here