This week sees World Mental Health Day.  This year’s theme set by the World Federation of Mental Health is workplace mental health. The theme highlights the importance of addressing mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

Safe, healthy working environments can act as a protective factor for mental health. Unhealthy conditions including stigma, discrimination, and exposure to risks like harassment and other poor working conditions, can pose significant risks, affecting mental health, overall quality of life and then participation or productivity at work.

Action to address mental health at work should be done with the meaningful involvement of workers and their representatives, and persons with lived experience of mental health conditions.

We are currently suffering from a mental health epidemic that is paralysing lives, with 1.9 million adults on mental health waiting lists and, tragically, 8% of children on waiting lists for mental health treatment. I know from my post bag that mental health legislation is woefully out of date.

Proposals to reform legislation were announced in the Government’s very first King’s Speech on 17 July and true to our word a Mental Health Bill will soon be introduced in Parliament.

The new Government also plans to reduce waiting times for those waiting for mental health support, introduce a mental health specialist in every school and create new open-access community hubs, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.

If we are to get our country moving again and our economy growing again we need everyone who can contribute to be able to play their part.