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<p>The Department designed and developed the mental health strategy<em>, No Health
Without Mental Health</em>, published February 2011, which sets out this Government’s
overall ambition for mental health.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We legislated for
parity of esteem by enshrining in law the equal status of mental and physical health
through the Health and Social Care Act 2012.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department
holds NHS England to account for the quality of mental health services, through the
Government’s Mandate to NHS England and measures outcomes for mental health patients
through the NHS, Public Health and Adult Social Care Outcomes Frameworks.</p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p>As steward of the system, the Department works with its partners to
achieve the objectives set out in <em>No Health Without Mental Health</em>.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Early in 2014, we published <em>Closing the gap: priorities
for essential change</em> which set out the areas where urgent action was most needed.
Progress has already been made in a number of areas:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>The
Government has ended the unjust exclusion of mental health from the right of choice
in the National Health Service.</li><li>Over 2.4 million people have entered treatment
under the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme, and over 1.4
million have completed treatment.</li><li>£54 million invested over the period 2011-2015/16
in the children and young people’s IAPT programme to transform child and adolescent
mental health services.</li><li>The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat, signed by
more than 20 national organisations, was published in February 2014.</li></ul><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Our recently published five-year plan,<em> Achieving Better
Access to Mental Health Services by 2020,</em> sets out action the government is taking
to provide better access to mental health services within the next year, including
the first ever national waiting times for mental health services. It also sets out
its vision for further progress by 2020.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>£40 million
in additional funding has been identified to enable change in the current financial
year, and a further £80 million will be freed up for 2015-16 to support implementation
of waiting times in mental health services.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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