General Election 2017: What are the parties promising disabled people?

General Election 2017: What are the parties promising disabled people?


  • Invest an extra £11bn every year into the NHS and social care by the end of the next parliament, raising caps on medical school and nurse training places, and increasing funding for mental health and dementia

  • Mental wellbeing will be placed on the same footing as physical healthcare, in terms of both access to treatment and funding

  • Increase planned spending on mental health services by at least £500m every year. UKIP says this sum could fund 6,000 clinical psychologists to see 500,000 more adults and young people per annum

  • Cut mental health waiting times to 28 days from referral to first appointment (currently it is 18 weeks)

  • Training on mental health to be added to the teacher-training syllabus

  • Mental health counselling strategy to be developed in secondary schools in England, Wales and N Ireland – measured by Ofsted inspections

  • Swift access to vital mental health services for patients diagnosed with debilitating long-term conditions and terminal illnesses

  • Direct access to specialist mental health treatment for all pregnant women and mothers of children under 12 months to be provided

  • Monitoring of mental wellbeing to be integrated into existing medical examinations for serving armed forces personnel who have traumatic roles

  • Reversal of policy to close special schools, and to ensure all other schools are accessible to disabled learners, with individual support in place for each child

  • Reversal of cuts to the adult social care budget and an end to humiliating work capability tests for disabled people

  • Choice of where to live for those with on-going healthcare needs, unless they are unable to make choices themselves, or care at home becomes unviable

  • Combating loneliness for older and disabled people by funding a pro-active co-ordinating service in every county using combined resources from the NHS, social services and the voluntary sector

  • No cuts to disability benefits

  • The so-called bedroom tax will be cut



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