MENTAL health services in Dorset are in “desperate need” of extra funding even in the wake of fresh government investment, according to a health watchdog.

Martyn Webster, manager of Healthwatch Dorset, has welcomed a new £1.6million government initiative to recruit and train graduates to become mental health social workers – but says much more still needs to be done.

The Think Ahead scheme announced by care and support minister Norman Lamb this week aims to attract up to 100 new recruits into specialist roles in a bid to ease the pressure on psychiatric care services.

However, Mr Webster said too many people in Dorset are still left to cope without support or treatment at all.

“There is a desperate need for more investment in mental health services,” he added. “The Think Ahead programme will contribute to that, but it is only one small part of the story.

“There’s a wider need to invest in mental health services across the board and to build capacity in the system. People need to be able to get access to specialist support quickly, which in turn will lead to recovery more quickly.”

He continued: “About one in four people will experience some sort of mental health issue in any given year, but too often people are left to cope without support or treatment.

“A lot of the concerns that local people in Dorset have shared with us about mental health services are to do with being unable to access the services in the first place. CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and Mental Health Crisis Care are some particular examples.”

Norman Lamb’s latest announcement comes at a time when investment in mental healthcare is being made a central issue ahead of the forthcoming General Election.

Last year the Daily Echo’s They Deserve Better campaign revealed horrendous failures by CAMHS and how it dealt with sex abuse, that there are no females psychiatric beds for females in the county and that police stations were used as a ‘place of safety’ for patients on 115 occasions in 2013/14.