Centre for Mental Health’s priorities for the next Parliament
Amy Hardie and Andy Bell
Our manifesto ahead of the 2017 General Election calls for the next UK Government to make mental health a priority. Based on our research, we’ve highlighted five key recommendations which could change people’s lives and reduce some of the starkest inequalities in our society:
- Prisons and immigration removal centres (IRCs) need a profound culture shift to become ‘psychologically informed environments’.
- The Government should support GPs, midwives and health visitors to recognise mental health difficulties among new mothers and get priority access to talking therapies.
- The Government should offer people with mental health problems support without sanctions when they want help to get into work.
- More support needs to be made available to children with behavioural difficulties and their families.
- The Government should invest in suicide prevention and support local authorities to develop effective strategies to save lives in their communities.
The next Government will need to address the above issues if it is to improve the mental health of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our society.
We are also a member of the Mental Health Policy Group, whose Manifesto for better mental health we fully endorse. We also support recommendations made by the We Need to Talk coalition and the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition. Our recommendations are in addition to those we have put forward with our partners.
