Justin Tomlinson MP has welcomed the vital work of organisations including Mind and the Avon & Wiltshire NHS Mental Health Trust as he marked World Mental Health Day.
At any one time, around in 1 in 6 people in the United Kingdom will suffer from some form of mental health condition. Sadly there still remains an outdated stigma attached to talking about mental health in this country. Evidence shows that the attitudes of others can stop the 1 in 4 of those who experience a mental health problem from seeking the help and support they need and this needs to changes.
During his time as the Minister for Disabled People, Justin worked tirelessly to improve the support available to people with a mental health condition, and to ensure that the parity of esteem between physical and mental health was recognised during the assessment process for receiving PIP & ESA. Additionally, Justin ensure that the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service was established to help individuals with a mental health condition who are absent from work or finding work difficult. Record numbers of people with mental health conditions are being helped into work by the Access to Work Scheme – over 1,600 people. In addition, Access to Work has specialist adviser teams focused on assisting customers with mental health conditions. These teams receive additional training, which includes input from suppliers, disability charities and other disability led groups.
The NHS is now spending record amounts on mental health - £11.7 billion in 2014-15, and the Government has pledged an extra £1 billion in funding a year by 2020. We want public services to reflect the importance of mental health in their planning, putting it on a par with physical health. In addition to the £1 billion announced by the PM and the Chancellor earlier this year, we have already made a positive start improving mental health support by:
- Increasing access to mental health services and making reduced waiting times a priority for NHS England.
- Making mental health a priority for Public Health England, the national public health service.
- Investing £450 million expanding talking therapies
- Investing £150 million for treatment and support for children and young adults with eating disorders.
- Providing £118 million by 2018-19 to complete the roll-out of the Children and Young People's Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) programme, ensuring that there are talking therapists in every part of the country providing the best quality treatment for children.
- Giving mental health patients a named clinician to provide more effective personalised care
- Investing £7 million to fund 50 new inpatient beds for children and young people.
- Perinatal mental health - every maternity ward to have staff specially trained to help support women's mental health by 2017, both before and after birth.
However, the Government recognises that there is more to do and is working closely with charities like Mind to improve the quality of care & support available. Paul Farmer, the Chief Executive of Mind, recently led a review of NHS England’s work on mental health and sent a detailed set of recommendations to the Health Secretary, who is now working to implement these.
Locally, Justin has actively worked to raise awareness of mental health support and services. He has raised money for charities including the Olive Tree Café, TWIGS & Rethink and has highlighted the successes of these organisations in Parliament. Justin has also taken the opportunity to meet with fellow local resident, Steve Carr, who runs the Mindcanyon blog on mental health. Steve has raised money for charity, and awareness of mental health, both through his blog and via events including; a 1,000 mile walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats, cycling from Swindon to Downing Street, and a 1,500 mile cycle ride across Europe.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “At any one time, 1 in 6 of the working age population has a common mental health condition, and a further 2 in 100 are affected by severe conditions like schizophrenia. This Government has made it an absolute focus to deliver parity of esteem, the principle by which mental health must be given equal priority to physical health. This is crucial and I have been working hard to reach this, both as an MP and during my time as a Minister. I am extremely proud that here in Swindon we have a number of fantastic organisations that do brilliant work to support people with mental health conditions, and I continue to meet with the leading charities in this area both locally and nationally to continue the discussion on how we improve services. It was particularly good to catch up with Steve again who has been doing a number excellent events to raise money & awareness about mental health!”
