FYI - BBC news story on survey carried out by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health
More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5194772.stm
Best wishes
David McDaid
LSE Health and Social Care
Money is being diverted away from mental health trusts to cover NHS deficits in England, a survey finds.
The report reveals nearly two-thirds of mental health trusts have been asked to cut their budget to cover overspending in other areas of the NHS.
The survey was carried out by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.
But Health Minister Rosie Winterton said there was "no evidence" the trusts were being affected by the current funding problems.
Nearly a third of NHS organisations failed to balance their books in 2005-2006, leaving the NHS with a deficit of £512m.
SCMH sent surveys to the finance directors of all 76 NHS mental health trusts in England, 32 of which replied.
They found the vast majority of the trusts had managed to keep within their budget limits for the period 2005-2006, but three-quarters had had to take special measures, such as recruitment freezes, to achieve this.
However, 63% of trusts surveyed said they had been asked to reduce their costs for 2006-2007 by an average of 3.2% of their budget.
Of these, 83% said the reductions were being sought to deal with the wider heath economy, particularly Primary Care Trusts (PCT) deficits.
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