'The controversial ‘care in the community’ approach to treating the mentally ill has been a £100 billion failure, a report warns today.
The study by the respected Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) suggests that many mental health patients have been ‘neglected’ for decades because the policy of closing down asylums was not accompanied by an increase in local care.
The think-tank says the £6 billion-a-year cost of dealing with mental health is the single biggest burden on the NHS. But it warns that the cost to society has been even higher, with social costs, the impact of lost working days and family breakdown taking the total bill to a ‘completely unsustainable’ £105 billion.' (Mail.)