New report shows that mental health funding gap has widened

  The spending gap between NHS acute hospitals and NHS mental health providers widened further last year, according to a new report from The King’s Fund.  Analysis done for the report shows that 84% of mental health trusts, which provide the great majority of mental health services, received an increase in funding last year, significantly higher than in previous years. But funding for acute and specialist hospitals has continued to grow more quickly as national leaders have prioritised reducing financial deficits and improving performance in A&E. As a result, income for mental health trusts rose by less than 2.5% in 2016/17 compared