The NHS and Civil Service employees will be guaranteed in-house mental health support, PM says in response to report that hundreds of thousands of people are leaving their jobs due to mental illness.
According to the Government-commissioned Thriving at Work: a review of mental health and employers, around 300,000 people are leaving their jobs each year due to mental illness – costing employers up to £42bn annually.
In response, Downing Street today said NHS and Civil Service employees will now be guaranteed tailored in-house mental health support.
NHS England and the Civil Service will also introduce a set of core and enhanced standards which will ensure employees have the knowledge, tools and confidence to understand and look after their own and their colleagues mental health.
‘I have made it a priority of this government to tackle the injustice of mental illness,’ said Theresa May.
‘Vital to this is the need to have a comprehensive cross-government plan which transforms how we deal with mental illness not only in our hospitals or crisis centres but in our classrooms, shop floors and communities.’
‘It is only by making this an everyday concern for everyone that we change the way we see mental illness so that striving to improve your mental health – whether at work or at home – is seen as just as positive as improving our physical wellbeing,’ she added.
