Essay Sample: Improving the 7 Days Crisis Response Service Across the NHS Will Help Save Lives

Introduction

The rate of suicide in the country is alarming as millions of people resort to ending their lives when they fail to access quality assistance from mental health organizations. Mental health is one of the medical conditions that rarely has symptoms, and it becomes easy to ignore, meaning that most people, both the young and the old suffer in silence. The number of lives lost in the recent years would have been saved if policies in the health sector in the country would be implemented that provide immediate and quick services to individuals suffering from mental conditions. The mental health is considered a national crisis due to the growing number of people killing themselves per year (Mental Health Taskforce 2016). This paper will critically analyze and evaluate how improving the 7 days crisis response service across the NHS will help save lives as part of a major drive to reduce suicide by 10 per cent by 2020/21 policy. The analysis will consider whether implementing the policy in the NHS will help save lives of people, as well as create awareness of the prevalence of mental health issues. The structure of this paper will adopt a discussion framework as the section will address the population that will be affected by the policy, the role of politics in the formulation of the policy, and the implementation of the policy into practice. The justification for selecting this policy is because by 2020/21, the NHS in England targets to offer support to at least 30,000 people or more, as well as women during the perinatal period each year by enabling them to access evidence -based specialist mental health care. The NHS England should support the highest number of people it can manage per year to improve the accessibility to quality mental health information and treatment for all persons. Formulation and implementation of the policy will be successful if the decision-makers in the health sector work as a team and remain committed to the short-term and long-term goals of the NHS.

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Discussion

Improving the response rate across the NHS will help save millions of lives every year as people will have trust and confidence when approaching the health care system that their needs will be addressed and they will not be sent away (Mental Health Taskforce 2016). Most people with mental health conditions suffer from manageable issues, which, when identified early and treated, would not affect the quality of life that individuals live both in the short-term and in the long-term. Responding to the cries of people who seek help will encourage them to face their challenges and consider visiting a health care institution that will correctly diagnose their mental health condition before being put under medication. Improving the response services will have positive implications on the local, national, and global platforms. Locally, the number of people assisted through the NHS will increase while the suicide rates will significantly reduce. At the end of each year, the number of suicide rates reported nationally will have gone down, a confirmation that the NHS has successfully impacted people with mental health issues (Mental Health Taskforce 2016). As the NHS strategies to deal with mental conditions succeed locally, other nations in the world might gain interest and implement the policies in their respective countries, thereby reducing the global suicide rates.

The policy targets the population that suffers from mental health conditions, and is not restricted to the ages, races, or gender of the individuals. Anyone that approaches the NHS for treatment will be accorded the assistance that he or she needs (Mental Health Taskforce 2016). Response rates and services from the NHS will focus on saving lives of all people, irrespective of their financial or economic conditions. The goal of the policy is reducing the suicide rates by 10% by 2020/2021, with the full knowledge that mental issues can affect anyone. Specific populations that the NHS will target include pregnant and lactating mothers, people with physical illnesses, older people, persons from marginalized groups, as well as any individual that is predominantly at a higher risk of developing mental illnesses.

Politics have an important role in advancing and supporting the NHS policy to save lives of the population as well as reduce the suicide rates in the country (Mental Health Taskforce 2016). Politicians are influential individuals in the society and have great followers who support their stand on different issues affecting the public. Therefore, if political leaders support the NHS policy in improving the crisis response services in the country, a large percentage of the public will have a positive attitude and support the NHS in its activities. People will be more than willing to open up and approach the NHS for treatment as they will perceive it as a channel they can get the assistance they need. Public involvement in public health policy has positive results as citizens feel their needs are being addressed by the healthcare institutions. Members of the public can also come up with ideas that can be implemented in the health policy.

The evidence base for the policy is based on the past high suicide rates that has resulted in the loss of millions of lives of young and old people, some of which were preventable (Mental Health Taskforce 2016). The number of young children suffering from mental issues has also increased, necessitating the need to develop strategies that will help the patients manage the condition from an early age. The policy can be translated into practice through the intervention of the NHS management and their employees. The first step is creating awareness in the country and increasing the amount of information in circulation about mental issues. Once the members of the public are assured that the NHS is a safe platform to access the assistance they need, they will be willing to approach the organization with ease. The public health policy will have a positive impact on the entire population of the country since each individual is directly or indirectly affected by the prevalence of mental issues in the society (Mental Health Taskforce 2016). This is because at any moment, a person is either suffering from mental issues, or knows one that battles the condition.

Conclusion

Improving the response service across the NHS is possible as long as relevant stakeholders in the health sector work together and implement the strategies that will benefit members of the public both in the short-term and in the long-term. A large number of people suffer from mental health issues and lack a support and treatment system that can assist them manage the conditions, forcing many to resort to suicide as a way of solving their problems. If the NHS improves on the response rate, more people will come out and seek assistance as they have confidence that they will get the emotional and psychological support they need. The NHS targets the entire population, since all people are at a risk of suffering from mental issues. The recommendation for NHS to succeed is that it should increase the number of personnel working so that the number of cases per day reported to the organization can be professionally handled. The more the staffs working at NHS, the more the number of persons will be handled per day, enabling the organization to reach its target of reducing the suicide rates by 10% by 2020/2021.

References

Mental Health Taskforce, 2016. The five year forward view for mental health. England