Department of Health (Reply)

Here is a reply from the Department of Health regarding my concerns about the huge lack of support for those with mental health:

Dear Mr Youell, 

Thank you for your correspondence of 22 October to the Department of Health about mental health.  I have been asked to reply. 

The Department recognises that many factors influence a person’s mental health.  Evidence from population surveys, in which people were asked to rate their own happiness or mental wellbeing, shows that although Britons have become richer over the last 50 years, overall mental wellbeing has not improved.  This would suggest that many of the things that are commonly assumed to improve wellbeing, such as greater wealth, more possessions and expensive holidays, do not on their own lead to a lasting improvement in an individual’s mental health. 

Over the last 20 years, new evidence has emerged about the factors affecting mental wellbeing, and this evidence shows that the actions we take and the way we think have the biggest impact.  It can help to think of “being well” as something a person does, rather than something that a person is.  Evidence suggests there are five major factors that contribute to good mental wellbeing.  More information about this is available on the NHS Choices website, at 

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/improve-mental-wellbeing.aspx 

That said, the Department agrees that stigma and discrimination are major social problems facing those with mental illness.  Tackling stigma and discrimination is at the heart of the Government’s mental health strategy ‘No health without mental health’, which was launched on 2 February 2011.  A number of mental health trusts currently undertake local anti-stigma and discrimination activities, gaining double benefits by encouraging service user involvement, aiding their recovery.  However, to shift public attitudes substantially requires a major and sustained social movement. 

On 9 October 2011, the Government announced grant funding of £20million jointly from the Department of Health and Comic Relief to ‘Time to Change’.  This is the first time that the campaign has received Government funding – £16million over the four years to 2015 – with a second grant of £4million being awarded by Comic Relief.  This funding will help ‘Time to Change’ continue its work until March 2015.  Ministers believe that this will help change attitudes and behaviours on a mass scale, empowering individuals to tackle discrimination across all sectors and communities.  The next phase of this campaign will include testing new approaches to tackling mental health stigma and discrimination among children and young people, and specific work with the black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, starting with the African-Caribbean community. 

‘No health without mental health’ has the twin aims of promoting and sustaining good mental health and wellbeing in the wider population, and improving the quality of existing services for people across the full range of mental health problems.  It looks at the prevalence of problems and effective approaches at different stages in life, stressing the importance of prevention and early intervention. 

The strategy is based on outcomes, and establishes mental health alongside physical health as central to priorities across Government and in the mainstream of health and social care services, alongside health issues such as cancer and heart disease.
The priorities of the strategy are summarised in six main objectives, which have been agreed with the Department’s partner organisations in the mental health sector.  This strategy will ensure that by 2014: 

- more people will have good mental health;
- more people with mental health problems will recover;
- more people with mental health problems will have good physical health;
- more people with mental health problems will have a positive experience of care and support;
- fewer people will suffer avoidable harm; and
- fewer people will experience stigma and discrimination. 

Central to these plans is an additional investment of around £400million to improve access to modern, evidence-based psychological therapies over the four years to 2015.  The Department will extend the current programme available to offer personalised support to 3.2 million people across the country, making a choice of psychological therapies available such as cognitive behavioural therapy, counselling for depression and interpersonal psychotherapy, and ensuring access for anyone who needs it. 

The strategy can be viewed on the Department’s website at 

http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/search?q=%E2%80%98No%20health%20without%20mental%20health%E2%80%99 

I hope this reply is helpful in clarifying the Department’s position on these issues. 

Yours sincerely, 

Michael Baxter 

Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries
Department of Health