Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-09-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to increase the number of Departments of Community Mental Health.
Mark Lancaster
The provision of mental healthcare to the Armed Forces is kept under regular review, to ensure that it continues to meet the demands placed on it in the light of changes to the size and location of the UK Armed Forces.
Following a recent review of the Defence Mental Health Services, we are in the process of reshaping the current network of Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) into a "hub and spoke" model. Once implementation is complete, we will have moved from a total of 16 DCMHs in the UK (plus satellite centres overseas), to 11 "hub" DCMHs located in main centres of military population, plus "spoke" Mental Health Teams (MHTs) serving a further eight locations, making 19 sites in total. Regular visiting clinics will also be held at other military centres around the country.
Focussing on fewer but larger DCMHs will enable us to provide greater resilience and a more consistent range of clinical and operational capabilities, while the additional of MHTs will increase accessibility and provide a more robust support for delivery to Cyprus, the North West and Wales, as well as improving access for eligible reservists and veterans.
