Mental Health Matters has welcomed the report from Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee into Rural Mental Health

Jane Hughes, Chief Executive of Mental Health Matters, said "As a provider of rural mental health services, we recognise how serious an issue rural mental health is and the recommendations of this report are welcome. Young farmers mental health is often a hidden problem in rural communities and the findings that mental health services are not currently fairly accessible for rural communities is concerning.

One of our rural services in Northumberland currently offers evidence based intervention for anyone 16 and above and in recent years there has been a significant shift in how these interventions are offered and delivered. The organisation has adapted our way of working to include remote options such as telephone and video as alternatives to face-to-face treatments. This has allowed rural communities in Northumberland to have more access to psychological support. However, more can still be done to increase accessibility to rural mental health support.

We look forward to contributing to the proposed consultation on how Integrated Care Systems can best support mental health in rural communities in the future”.