Countless column inches have been dedicated to debating the causes of the UK’s mental health crisis, which saw referrals to mental health services in England rocket by nearly
38 per cent between 2019 and 2024. Much of this media debate has centred on concerns around ‘over-diagnosis’.
But much less attention has been paid to how cost-of-living pressures might be impacting people’s wellbeing – and the need to tackle financial difficulty as a driver of poor mental health.
The reality is that financial and mental health problems go hand in hand. Nearly half of people in debt also have a mental health problem, while new analysis by my charity Money and Mental Health shows that people with mental health problems are three times as likely to be behind on household bills than the rest of the population.
And 3.6 million people with mental health problems tell us that in the past year they have been worried about not having enough money to put food on the table.
But despite the clear link between financial difficulty and poor mental health, more often than not, people do not get joined-up support for these issues. Only one in seven (14 per cent) people who are accessing NHS mental health support say they have received help with their finances too.
This is despite research showing that being in debt makes mental health recovery take longer and makes readmission more likely.
Our analysis also shows that joining up debt advice with talking therapies could double recovery rates for people struggling with debt and depression, as well as bringing significant savings for the NHS.
Conservative estimates suggest that every £1 invested in these kinds of interventions would generate a financial gain of £14 to £27.
The case for joined-up money and mental health support is therefore clear. In July 2025, the government announced ambitious plans for ‘Neighbourhood Health Services’ to provide support for socio-economic factors such as debt and employment issues alongside treatment for mental and physical health conditions.
This is part of a wider focus on shifting the NHS towards a more community-focused healthcare model, giving local leaders more decision-making powers to shape accessible, integrated care in communities.
This offers a once-in-a-generation chance to tackle one of the main drivers of the country’s mental health crisis. But concerns remain that the government might already be downgrading its ambitions.
While the initial government press release explicitly stated the commitment to include debt advice support through Neighbourhood Health Services, subsequent government and NHS guidance on how these services should be delivered make next to no mention of it.
The government needs to return to the ambition it announced last year, by giving local leaders a clear steer that money advice should be widely offered across Neighbourhood Health Services.
Without clear guidance from the government setting out this as a priority – and how it could be delivered – the current scenario of most people missing out on integrated support will persist or worsen.
The Neighbourhood Health approach also offers government and health commissioners an ambitious chance to deliver services in new and innovative ways – and to draw on the approaches that already exist in small pockets of the NHS.
Take, for example, Sheffield Mental Health Advice Service, which provides welfare advice to people receiving in-patient mental health care (who often struggle to access mainstream advice).
By co-locating advice within in-patient settings, routinely screening all patients for social welfare problems when they are admitted, and ensuring advice staff have the right training to support people with mental health problems, the service has reduced the length of time people need to stay in hospital, as well as cutting rates of relapse and homelessness.
Similar factors are in play at the Advice on Prescription project, run by Liverpool Citizens Advice, which provides free expert social welfare advice at all GP practices and mental health settings around the city.
People who present to their GP with non-medical issues can get quick access to free expert advice, which has resulted in improved psychological wellbeing for almost all clients and reduced demand on GP services, and generated significant savings for the NHS.
People’s lives are complicated, and helping those with complex and overlapping needs requires genuinely holistic support.
That is evident in the Health Justice Partnership (HJP) in Coventry and Warwickshire. Commissioned by the NHS, but led by Central England Law Centre Coventry, this cross-sector partnership offers people receiving mental health care specialist advice for housing insecurity, debt and employment issues.
This expansive support has helped reduce homelessness, improve mental and physical wellbeing and generate income amounting to £1.2m each year for people using the services through improving access to benefits and other financial support.
These examples point to the promise of joined-up care. The solutions are there, but delivering them consistently across Neighbourhood Health Services will require government focus and priority.
In the wake of the local elections, this is a chance for the government to introduce tangible policy to reduce cost-of-living pressures and to deliver on its prevention agenda in communities across the country.
It is an opportunity to transform support for those at the sharp end of the UK’s mental health crisis and rising costs.
Content from our partners
Related
