The coalition government is wrecking provision of mental health services in Britain, the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) warned yesterday.

Since being elected in 2010 the Con-Dem government’s policies have seen the number of psychiatric nurses employed in the NHS plummet by 3,300, and numbers of in-patient beds fall by 1,500.

RCN chief executive Dr Peter Carter described the situation as “unacceptable” and a “false economy.”

Labour also said the decline was “unacceptable.”

Shadow public health minister Luciana Berger said: “These findings demonstrate just how much mental health services have gone downhill under David Cameron.

 “This Tory-led government promised that physical and mental health services would be treated with the same importance but instead all we have seen is a drop in the number of mental health nurses, a loss of over 1,500 mental health beds and seriously ill people not getting the help that need.”

Dr Carter urged the government to take immediate action. He said the cuts had had come at a time of “unprecedented demand” with one in four people estimated to experience mental health problems in their lifetime.

He said: “It’s strange and it’s not a surprise to people that work in mental health that it’s at the bottom of the chain, so to speak. And at times of crisis it is services like mental health, the elderly and learning disabilities that are first in line for the cuts.

“Mental health over the past few years has really suffered and the tragedy is this — in 1999 the National Service Framework for mental health came into being which put in place crisis resolution, early intervention and assertive outreach services, and most of these services have now been cut.”