MENTAL health patients in the North-East are suffering due to "unacceptably low" budgets, a charity has warned.

Local authorities in the region spend 21 per cent less than the national average when addressing mental health issues, a Freedom of Information request by Mind revealed.

Six out of 12 North-East councils that responded to the request have budgeted just £1.1m for mental health in 2014/15.

This equates to 1.1 per cent of the authorities’ £98.2m public health budget.

A 36-year-old woman from Stockton, who suffers from mental health issues, said: "I have been waiting over a year to see a doctor to be medicated or diagnosed.

"I think more money would definitely help. At the moment the whole system is ineffective – I have been assigned a mental health nurse but she has only managed to visit me once in three months.

"The whole process has been ineffective and has definitely created more stress. When you know that you could have been seen quicker if there were better resources then it is frustrating.

"I am off work long-term now, but I think if the process had been quicker, then I would have kept my job."

Gary Emerson, chief executive of Darlington Mind, said: "There has definitely been a shift away from helping in terms of prevention. I certainly think more needs to be done.

"One in four people suffer from mental health problems and we need to look at priorities. It has been a Cinderella service for far too long.

"The Government has committed to treating people with mental and physical problems equally but the evidence points to this not being the case.

"In some parts of Darlington and Durham, people have to regularly wait 12 weeks for an appointment."

Paul Farmer, national chief executive of Mind, said: "Our findings show that while local authorities are happy to spend on preventing physical health problems, their equivalent spending on mental health is unacceptably low."

The total annual spend by authorities in the UK is less than £40m.

Mental health issues cost the country £100bn per year due to lost working days, benefits and the cost of treatment.