I AM a psychiatrist in Glasgow working within a deprived inner city area.

Individuals with mental illness experience a range of challenges compared to the general population. Cuts to social care and access to services are having a profound effect on the ability of services to deliver holistic and high-quality care and treatment. Physical health is also a problem, with life expectancy for people with major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder being around 20 years less for men and 15 years less for women. There are many and varied reasons behind these alarming trends, yet as a society we remain low on pragmatic solutions.

Read more: 'Glasgow 'bed crisis' sees psychiatric patients sent to Inverness'

So many psychiatric beds have now been closed and the cuts in social care so great that there has been an ongoing bed crisis in Glasgow for well over a year. Essentially, this means that there have been virtually no reliably available psychiatric beds in Glasgow since mid-2015. Patients presenting in very difficult circumstances are routinely admitted outside of Glasgow and at times as far away as Inverness. These difficulties in providing inpatient care to people with mental health difficulties only add to the already significant challenges facing a vulnerable group.

In an economic climate where some health boards are being asked to make a further 10 per cent efficiency savings over the next five years the possibility of rapid improvements is about as likely as the Scottish national football team winning a major tournament.

We urgently need to raise awareness, funding and expectations in this area. The Scottish Government has been systematic in its denial of the impending cuts facing the NHS. Labour, in its weakened state have been slow and imprecise. The current tribal nature of politics in Scotland has resulted in mental health services being seen as an issue raised by the Liberal Democrats, themselves low on credibility. A toxic combination of stigma, savage and persistent cuts as well as partisan politics not only risks, but most likely secures, further difficulties for people with mental illness.

Dr Daniel Martin,

2/16, 145 Albion Street, Glasgow.

I WRITE to congratulate you on highlighting the work being done to develop a National Care Framework for Huntington’s disease (HD) (“Raise bar on standards of care for those with this devastating illness”, Agenda, The Herald, December 1).

John Eden, the chief executive of Scottish Huntington’s Association, refers to HD as a “devastating condition” that “has always been blighted by secrecy, misunderstanding and stigma.” As someone who has seen the impact of this dreadful genetic disease on my family and on other families I know, I can vouch for the accuracy of this description. Patient care and support can indeed suffer badly as a consequence, particularly in a social care setting.

Work being done to develop a National Care Framework, and your coverage of it, provide a golden opportunity to increase awareness and understanding of this condition which, in layman's terms, is like having motor neurone disease, Parkinson's and elements of Alzheimer's all at the same time. I would strongly urge patients, carers and health and social care staff to get involved in this process - as I will certainly do now - to ensure that this opportunity is not missed.

Margaret Moncrieff,

3 Neuk Crescent, Houston, Johnstone.