Yesterday saw an historic Parliamentary
debate where MPs from all political parties discussed mental health
in the main chamber of the House of Commons.
Nicky Morgan MP opened the debate by
saying: "It is at least four years, and probably slightly longer,
since the general topic of mental health was debated in Chamber.
That is a long time, given that 25% of the population—one in four
people—will experience a mental health problem at some point in
their lives.
"Mental health comes at an economic and
social cost to the UK economy of £105 billion a year, yet mental
health has been a Cinderella service—poorly funded compared with
other conditions and not spoken about nearly enough either inside
or outside this House. It is the largest single cause of
disability, with 23% of the disease burden of the NHS, yet the NHS
spends only l1% of its budget on mental health problems."
Professor Sue Bailey, President of the
Royal College of Psychiatrists said: "The College welcomed the
debate on mental health and I was overwhelmed by the honesty and
openness with which the topic was discussed by MPs. A full
debate on mental health was long overdue and never before have
parliamentarians spoken so openly about mental health issues that
have affected them personally. I hope that this is one further step
along the road to ensuring everyone can be open about mental health
without fear of stigma."
The debate also saw Gavin Barwell MP
announce that we would be using his Private Members’ Bill to
champion the Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill and to lead it
through Parliament to become law.
The Bill will:
- Remove the blanket ban that forbids
“mentally disordered persons” regularly attending for treatment
undertaking jury service.
- Amend legislation which states that a
person might cease to be a director of a public or private company
“by reason of their mental health”.
- Remove legislation under which an MP
automatically loses their seat if they are sectioned under the
Mental Health Act for more than six months.
A rule by which school govenors might lose their position on
account of mental health was in the previous verseion of this Bill,
which was introduced into the House of Lords in 2011. The College
is pleased that the government has now acted to remove that
discriminatory provision.
Mr Barwell, Member of Parliament for
Croydon Central, commented: "The main purpose of my Bill is to send
a very clear message that having a mental health problem is nothing
to be ashamed of, it’s like any other kind of health problem, and
that you shouldn’t be discriminated against on the basis of
law."
Professor Sue Bailey, President of the
Royal College of Psychiatrists, added: "We are delighted these
archaic and unfair rules are being tackled. The College has worked
closely on this Bill and we are proud to be involved in the
campaign. The Government has already voiced its commitment to
removing the stigma associated with mental health problems and we
are pleased that the government has again reiterated its support
for this Bill. The fact that you can be turned down for jury
service, or be removed from your job as an MP or company director
because of mental health problems, is discriminatory and
outdated."
The Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill was
first introduced in April 2011, by Lord Stevenson. At the Bill’s
second reading in the Lords on Friday 25 November 2011 it received
the support of the government but unfortunately ran out of
Parliamentary time.
For further information, please
contact:
Liz Leicester
or Deborah Hart in the Communications
Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127