It's rare we get good news in this sector but the World Health Organisation has said England's mental health system is a model for the rest of Europe. Is it time to stop complaining about the state of mental health care and congratulate everyone for providing such a good service?

I agree the community mental health teams are often excellent and provide an excellent service.

 Imo it is the hospital wards/units that need complete reshaping though, but that's health rather than social of course.

Of course not.

It won't be time to congratulate us until we have a recovery rate that is better than it was 100 years ago and the biomedical dominance of psychiatry is a distant memory.

Then, maybe we'll have cause for celebration. Until then it's noce to know that we're ahead of the game but this is no time to get complacent.

Stuart Sorensen:

Of course not.

It won't be time to congratulate us until we have a recovery rate that is better than it was 100 years ago and the biomedical dominance of psychiatry is a distant memory.

Then, maybe we'll have cause for celebration. Until then it's noce to know that we're ahead of the game but this is no time to get complacent.

 Wholeheartedly agreed!

Mental health care within England is patchy at best, it very much depends on where you live and also which team member you are allocated to.  When care is so much down to pure luck, rather than good practice and service generally, that is not to be congratulated. Sure, in some geographic areas services are ten times better than say ten years ago, in others they appear to be, sadly, worse. 

My feeling on reading this report was overwhelming pity for those people living in countries elsewhere in Europe! Some of the 'care' within England can be awful, and if that is the best within Europe- well, it doesn't say much for those countries.

I fully appreciate that there's a lot of room for improvement in mental health care, I just feel that public services get constantly criticised, particularly the health service, and rarely celebrated.

 I agree there is a lot to be done and never room for complacency but there is some very good work being done and being reminded of that is not a bad thing. It doesn't mean, oh, we're great, we don't need to do anything, but maybe gives some heart to people trying their best within the services. 

 Having lived a couple of years in another European Country and seen what kind of care is given there, I am rather glad that I'm living and working in the UK. It doesn't mean I don't want to work every day to get better and create a better service but it's still nice to be recognised every now and then. 

It is very much a postcode lottery.  Some mental health services are good, some aren't.

I have personal experience of more than one mental health team and others on a professional level, and I know others who have accessed them in other areas.  The general consensus is that they are useless.  The introduction of crisis teams does a good job at keeping hospital admittances down, but the fact remains that they refuse to admit people who genuinely need it, who are asking for it.  Someone I know committed suicide two years ago after being told by her crisis team she wasn't really suicidal (despite having made previous serious attempts) so they wouldn't admit her, despite her knowing it would be a safe place.  I know other people who luckily haven't succeeded but have been in a similar situation and been refused help.

Like in other areas, the gap between NHS and private services is vast, and private hospitals have helped people I know, providing structured therapy/groups/decent surroundings etc, rather than being stuck on a ward, medicated, and ignored.

Personally, I think a lot of what mental health teams do is about looking good, saving money, cutting admittances etc, but in reality they are looking at those things too much that they are forgetting what the service users actually need.

 Maybe our services are the best in Europe, but in that case I'd hate to think what the others are like.