(Title Image: The Planner)
Health & Social Care Committee
Impact of Covid-19 on mental health & wellbeing (pdf)
Published: 17th December 2020
- Health Committee calls for previous recommendations from mental health-related inquiries to be implemented in full.
- Committee finds a big disconnect between health board claims about access to mental health support during the pandemic and the experiences of patients.
- Frontline staff should be prioritised for occupational mental health support over fears of a “timebomb”.
While the Covid-19 pandemic is a very real and obvious threat to physical health, lockdown restrictions and alike will have had an equally serious impact on people’s mental health.
In June 2020, Mind Cymru reported half of adults and three-quarters of young people reported their mental health had worsened during the pandemic due to social isolation, being unable to go outside as often and worries about friends and family.
It was difficult to find evidence on the pandemic’s effect on suicide rates and self-harm, though there was some initial evidence from the Wales Ambulance Service that demand for suicide or self-harm emergencies increased by 6% during July-August 2020 compared to 2019 – though it was also higher before the first wave of Covid-19.
One of the key findings from the inquiry was a disconnect between claims (from the Welsh Government and local health boards) that mental health services were available as normal and the experiences of patients.
Witnesses told the committee that patients known to mental health services were being turned away or not having calls responded to. At the start of the pandemic, up to 1,700 mental health patients were discharged in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board (which serves the north).
Additionally, not being able to be at the side of someone who’s dying or able to attend a funeral – due to pandemic restrictions – may, in the short-to-medium-term, lead to abnormal grief and the development of mental health problems.
While that’s the case for the public, it’s the same for frontline staff. Witnesses working in the NHS told the Committee that they felt “completely destroyed” after finishing a shift.
Also, care home staff will have lost more residents than usual or lost colleagues to the pandemic. This won’t end when the pandemic is declared over and the Committee recommended prioritising a specific programme of support to frontline staff.
The Committee made recommendations concerning facilitating indoor visits to care homes and the importance of keeping schools open to address loneliness amongst young people.
