Frontline mental health funding to fall short again

Commitments to ensure parity of esteem between mental and physical health services in England will not be consistently met this year, a survey has revealed. Under the Mental Health Investment Standard commissioners are required to boost funding for mental health in line with their own budget increases. Contract negotiations for the next two years were completed by 23 December 2016. But a survey of mental health trust leaders, carried out by NHS Providers, found that 63% thought that the Mental Health Investment Standard would be missed. The main reason given for the shortfall was that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were