Can mental health policy ever deliver its objectives?

Abstract

In February 2011, the Coalition Government published its first mental health strategy No Health Without Mental Health. One year on, Jennifer White and Helen Johnson ask if this strategy was simply the latest in a series of well-meaning strategies in mental health that fall short of their objectives when implemented. The ambition of the latest strategy was to mainstream mental health provision and care and achieve ‘parity of esteem’ with physical health. These are difficult times for the public sector and this Government has set itself a challenge that would be difficult even in affluent times. After years of successive Government strategies purporting to prioritise mental health, are we nearly there yet?