Theresa May can’t just expect employers to solve the mental health crisis

Theresa May made mental health one of her key policy issues when she became Prime Minister, and it was supposed to be a key part of her relaunch after the snap election too. So far, though, the Prime Minister has done a fair bit of talking, and not a huge amount of doing. The big mental health launch in January involved very little money and a lot of worthy words about lifting the stigma. Worthy words are handy, given some people do still encounter a great deal of stigma when they are mental, rather than physically, ill. But the thing about being Prime Minister is that you can do a lot more than talk if you want.

Today, a review on mental health in the workplace that May commissioned has reported back with statistics on how difficult it still is for many people who suffer from mental illness. It finds that 300,000 people with long-term mental health problems lose their jobs every year, and only 11 per cent of employees discussed a recent mental health problem with their line manager.