£1.25 billion for children’s mental health services – tip of the iceberg?

With 1 in 10 children experiencing a mental disorder (The Office for National Statistics Mental health in children and young people in Great Britain, 2005) this is welcoming news indeed.

However, this shouldn’t steer our attention away from the frightening reality that thousands of suffering adults are still not receiving the support they are entitled to because of relentless cuts to adult mental health services, critically impacting on access, quality and care.

Worryingly, the number of new cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2013/14 was 244,000 (HSE Stress-related and psychological disorders in Great Britain 2014). Add this to those already suffering in and out of work and we are heading for a national epidemic.

Mental ill health related illness is not going away – in fact it is gathering speed because of the cuts to our services and because of the growing stresses and demands from trying to balance work and life pressures.

Pouring £1.25 billion into children’s mental health services is a good start but frankly it has the feel of the Titanic about it. Addressing the needs of over 110,000 children, is simply the tip of a terrifying Iceberg.

 

Support For Disabled People In Employment

Déanne Clark of Impact Peer Support spoke at The Disability Resource Centre (DRC) for the Employer Academy Workshop today on ‘Supporting local employers to recruit and retain disabled people’ and support for disabled people in employment.

Just to remind ourselves of what classifies as a disability, here is the UK Governments definition of ‘Disability’ as defined by the Equality Act 2010:

A mental health condition is considered a disability if it has a long-term effect on your normal day-to-day activity.

Your condition is ‘long term’ if it lasts, or is likely to last, 12 months.

‘Normal day-to-day activity’ is defined as something you do regularly in a normal day. For example – using a computer, working set times or interacting with people.

You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

Well, that’s the definition, more thoughts on that another time perhaps?

Back to the event which, was superbly organised by Tracy Plunkett, Health & Learning at Work Project Manager for the DRC and with excellent attention to detail, particularly the lovely pastries on the all too tempting breakfast buffet!

In addition to me speaking about Mental Health, Mick Dillon, CEO of the DRC spoke about Physical Disabilities and Christopher Brandom from New Horizons in Luton talked about Learning Disabilities. Each speaker finished by asking the audience to discuss and feedback answers to their questions and it was very interesting to observe the varying understanding from the groups to each disability. Here’s a look at the questions we asked:

Mick, Physical Disability “What are the needs & issues regarding Physical Disability & employment?”

Chris, Learning Disability “When you hear the words Learning Disability, what is your first thought?”

Déanne, Mental Health “How does Mental Health Peer Support benefit employers and employees?”

As you might imagine, the questions raised a lot of interest from the groups and Mick, Chris and I were thrilled to create such animated discussions – that’s how we start to tackle stigma and inequality!

It was a lovely morning and a great opportunity to meet some equally lovely people and talk about Impact Peer Support too – thanks to the Disability Resource Centre.

Public Health England Pledge Occupational Health and Wellbeing Support Services

The UK Government recognise the importance of workplace based health and wellbeing support services and have outlined this stance in the Public Health England Workplace Wellbeing Charter.

public health englandPublic Health England plan to roll out the national standard for the Workplace Wellbeing Charter by March 2015 and work to activate and engage employers of all sizes in all sectors to recognise the return on investment for supporting the health and wellbeing of staff.

See Public Health England Business Plan for 2014-15

Wokplace based health and wellbeing support services are vital for the growth and development of people and business – Impact Peer Support welcomes the Workplace Charter.