Health issues are very important to me. I spent a significant portion of my life working in the NHS. I was responsible for health services in the Northern and Yorkshire Regions from 1997-2001 and simultaneously served as a member of the Policy Board for the NHS. Prior to that I was Chairman of a large inner city Health Authority. These experiences have meant that the future of the NHS, and how we treat the various illnesses and ailments that affect the country’s population, is very close to my heart.
I am very proud of the work our doctors and nurses do for this country, without them we would not have a health service that stands up so well internationally and that we can all be proud of. However, this should not make us complacent and we should not be scared at looking for improvements.
There is one area in particular where I feel we can do more, and where we still fail too many people. Mental health is still today treated with lower priority than physical, and visible, injuries yet those that suffer from it are affected just the same. Statistics show that 1 in 4 of us will suffer with mental health issues at some point, this is a frighteningly high number. These people should get the treatment they deserve.
One of the major problems in supporting people with mental health is that, more than many other illnesses, it is still affected by stigma. People are afraid to tell people they have a mental health problem, for fear that they will be ridiculed or simply told to ‘get over it’. That is why we need to start taking mental health more seriously, bringing the problem out in the open and treating it as the emergency health issue it so often is - too many suffer unnecessarily whilst we don’t.
I am pleased that this is something that my party, the Liberal Democrats, realise too. Our party policy recognises the importance of proper care for mental health. We have fought for the resources to secure equal treatment for mental health with physical health in the government. At our party conference a few weeks ago, Nick Clegg announced a £120 million investment in mental health.
It will be an uphill struggle to get to a point where we can say mental health is taken as seriously at it should be. We have made it clear in government that we oppose NHS England’s decision to impose greater funding cuts on mental health than acute trusts. In my view, this is illogical if we are to make a real difference in improving mental health services. But as part of a Coalition Government we have announced new waiting time standards and a five-year plan to bring treatment for mental health problems on a par with physical health, a plan that will help end years of discrimination. But there remains much to do in the areas of accessibility to mental services and the fact that there remains greater disparity on who is sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Stigma on health issues is a major hurdle we have to overcome in society be it on mental health, obesity or prostate cancer. People suffer because of stigmas associated with certain illnesses. This needs to stop. The scars of mental health may be buried beneath the surface but they hurt just as much as physical wounds and are clearly capable of irreparable damage if left untreated.
