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From: The Socialist issue 779, 11 September 2013: Let's organise an autumn of action against austerity
Search site for keywords: NHS - Young people - Mental health - Health - Government - Cuts - Austerity
TV review: Failed by the privatising NHS
Josh Asker , Southampton Socialist Party
A recent BBC documentary "Failed by the NHS" shows the inability of the NHS and the government to help young people suffering from mental illness. Despite 1,600 young people taking their lives every year, services have been cut.
In times of austerity, unemployment and service cuts increase the pressures on young people. Depression and anxiety are four to ten times more prevalent among people who have been unemployed for over 12 weeks.
In the last two years the number of psychiatric beds has been cut by 2,000. This often leads to people with mental health problems being detained in police cells.
In 2011/12 more than 9,000 people were detained in cells under the mental health act, where by law they can be detained for three days.
Even some police chiefs complain that about a fifth of their time is spent dealing with mentally unwell people.
Government cuts have been particularly devastating for young people with mental illness. The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, treating people aged under 18, has suffered a two-thirds funding reduction since 2010.
Meanwhile suicide rates are increasing. The number of people taking their own lives rose 8% between 2010 and 2011.
This government consistently picks on the sections of society where people are less likely to speak up. People suffering from mental illness are likely to be among the most vulnerable and isolated.
The NHS was a monumental gain achieved through working class struggle. But policies of privatisation carried through by Labour and now the Con-Dems and the brutal effects of austerity mean the service is consistently being undermined.
A socialist NHS would reverse privatisation initiatives and invest in services required to meet all our needs.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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