Kirsten Johnson

Parity of esteem for mental health – petition to change Health and Safety legislation

By | Thu 14th June 2018 - 12:30 pm

Back in 2016 I wrote a blog explaining my efforts to raise awareness of mental health first aid which led to an Early Day Motion being submitted by Norman Lamb MP.

There is now a further campaign led by MHFA England to change health and safety legislation so that there is parity of esteem between mental and physical first aid. Where’s Your Head At? is calling for every workplace to provide Mental Health First Aid as well as physical first aid.

The call is simple:

By law, all workplaces, schools and colleges must make provision around physical first aid. Why not the same for mental health?

Mental health issues including stress, anxiety and depression are the biggest cause of sickness absence in our society. Mental Health First Aid courses teach people to spot the signs of mental health issues, offer initial help and guide a person towards support. When support and treatment is accessed early, people recover faster and have better outcomes for their health.

Training people in mental health awareness and skills also helps to build an open and supportive culture around mental health. This can stop preventable health issues arising in the first place, and empower people with mental health issues to thrive in work.

We believe that mental and physical health should be treated equally – because we all have mental health. Let’s change the law to reflect this.

Besides the profound benefit this will have to those suffering mental ill-health but remaining unsupported and undiagnosed, changing this legislation will also save businesses an estimated £35 billion per year.

Please consider signing the petition. It can be found here.

* Kirsten Johnson is the PPC for North Devon and Day Editor of Lib Dem Voice.

Read more by or more about , or .
This entry was posted in Op-eds.
Advert

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

If you are a member of the party, you can have the Lib Dem Logo appear next to your comments to show this. You must be registered for our forum and can then login on this public site with the same username and password.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert



Recent Comments

  • User AvatarJoseph Bourke 24th May - 8:44pm
    David Raw. I don't know how you come up with these little snippets like Danny Alexander's tweets and the strategic importance of Gibraltar's Barbary Apes...
  • User AvatarDavid Evershed 24th May - 8:19pm
    If the Lib Dems were acting in the national interest by forming a coalition with Conservatives in 2010 then why were the Conservatives not also...
  • User AvatarMichael Meadowcroft 24th May - 8:08pm
    The best thing about Simon Callow's comment is that he understands and appreciates the Liberals sixty-four year official commitment to a united Europe including the...
  • User AvatarFiona 24th May - 8:04pm
    Feel free to ignore the stuff that underwhelms you Yeovil. It's not exactly easy to get the press interested in what we do, especially in...
  • User AvatarJohn Marriott 24th May - 7:06pm
    Oops. Before anyone corrects me, ‘The Third Man’ was, of course, directed by Carol Reed in 1949. I see that some people still can’t get...
  • User AvatarJoe Bourke 24th May - 6:54pm
    Michael BG, I don't have any issue with promising to increase the basic benefit levels to the poverty level as defined by the Joseph Rowntree...