Health Trust is "walking a tightrope without a safety-net"

1.00.00pm GMT Thu 9th Feb 2006

David Howarth, MP for Cambridge, has denounced mental health cuts in Cambridge as like "walking a tightrope without a safety-net" in an Opposition Day debate in Parliament.

David's comments came during a House of Commons debate into Mental Health services on Tuesday, during which he also praised the people of Cambridge for coming together to oppose the cuts to mental health services.

David commented:

"The PCTs are making their changes in the wrong order. Crisis resolution and community outreach teams to prevent in-patient admissions are clearly a good way of running mental health services. However these services must be set up before large numbers of beds are closed.

"The problem is that £2 million of cuts are required in the current financial year, there is no time for the community and crisis resolution teams to become fully operational before in-patient facilities are cut back leaving a dangerous gap in service provision."