Memorandum by West Sussex County Council
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 West Sussex County Council welcomes
the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the European Commission's
plans for a mental health strategy. The publication of the Green
Paper in October 2005 provides scope to share current best practice
and learning across the EU.
1.2 We recognise the economic and social
emphasis in the Green Paper. Mental ill-health should be a real
priority for Member States as an estimated 3-4 per cent GDP is
lost to economic productivity, and there are considerable service
impacts on social and educational support systems, as well as
on the work of the criminal justice agencies. However it is not
just about people in employment that an EU Strategy needs to be
concerned—the mental health needs of older people, and of
(unpaid) carers, need also to be incorporated.
2. IS AN
EU STRATEGY NEEDED?
2.1 It is our belief that the development
of the EU-wide strategy on mental health is needed but we must
ensure that resources are not diverted away from delivering the
public health and well-being agenda in our own local areas.
2.2 There is already much work underway
to tackle the causes of lost productivity due to mental distress.
Supported employment schemes, some funded by the EU, operate in
a number of areas. These support individuals with mental distress
in seeking and sustaining meaningful daytime activity, and gaining
or re-gaining employment wherever possible. Research conducted
by independent policy organisations in the UK, and also reported
in the UK Government's annual Labour Force Survey consistently
confirms that people with severe mental disorders are among the
groups in society who have the highest rates of unemployment.
The UK Government therefore has a number of existing policy objectives
in this area.
2.3 Some local authorities, such as ourselves,
are developing innovative approaches, focusing not so much on
supporting individuals with mental distress but rather on encouraging
more progressive attitudes and approaches by employers. For example,
training companies to manage and understand better the challenges
of employing people who experience mental distress will lead to
companies that are better able to understand and support their
workforces.
2.4 One way the UK Government can help is
by changing the current disability benefit rules that have the
perverse incentive of discouraging people who could work from
seeking a job. A change in the rules could unlock huge potential
to fill jobs across a range of skills, get people contributing
to the health and the wealth of the nation instead of being a
drain on it, and also improve their own health so that they would
be less likely to require Government benefits in future. For example,
work has been successfully undertaken by one of our neighbouring
county councils (Kent), to change the regulations affecting those
people making the transition from being in receipt of welfare
benefits to gaining a meaningful wage through paid employment.
3. WHAT SHOULD
AN EU MENTAL
HEALTH STRATEGY
CONTAIN?
3.1 Any strategy that focuses on health
and wellbeing of the population needs to understand the characteristics
of the populations of Member States. The Green Paper also highlights
wide variations in the suicide rates across the Member States.
Even with a 10-year National Service Framework for Mental Health
in place (and its core emphasis on significantly reducing death
by suicide), suicide rates per 100,000 population in England are
still twice the rate of Greece. It is a somewhat surprising to
note that suicide kills more people in the EU annually than road
accidents. Yet which subject is more fixed in the minds of the
general public—the driving habits of fellow Europeans or
the health and social care systems in place across the EU?
3.2 The proposed strategy could set out
a number of preventive measures and approaches that could be adopted
by Member States. One such example is how we have been working
imaginatively with the UK Government's Carers Grant. Some of that
annual grant has been specifically earmarked to meet the assessed
needs of carers of adults with mental distress. The purpose of
this specific scheme is to enable carers, known to the local integrated
health and social care mental health NHS Trust, to take a break—whether
a family holiday in Europe, paying for a pamper day at a health
resort, or a city break in the UK, or paying for a range of complementary
therapies. The scheme sustains the ability of carers to maintain
good mental health whilst providing an unpaid caring role for
their loved ones.
3.3 The UK Government, through the work
of its Social Exclusion Unit, has been focused on improving the
quality of life of those suffering from mental distress. Programmes
of work that emphasise the building of mentally healthy local
communities are essential. Local Area Agreements—with potentially
challenging "stretch" targets—are essential if
significant progress is to be made. Among the many target areas
for quality of life improvement set out in Local Area Agreements
are subjects such as reducing domestic violence and teenage pregnancies;
improving workforce skills and opportunities; and cutting death
and serious injury accidents on our roads. It is possible that
this is an approach that could be promoted across the EU.
3.4 The EU should consider developing an
EU-wide mental health information, research and knowledge system.
Information and knowledge about mental distress, as well as the
evidence for change, is held by a variety of institutions and
in various countries. With use of the Internet, it should be possible
to create portals from which access to these resources can be
obtained.
3.5 The EU could consider establishing an
EU-wide platform on mental health issues, to not only include
politicians, but also those people with a personal experience
of mental distress as well as specialists in this field and other
stakeholders and institutions such as the World Health Organisation.
3.6 Our children and young people should
also be able to enjoy good physical and emotional health and choose
to live healthy lifestyles. Agencies are committed to working
towards eradicating health inequalities and improving children
and young people's health by shifting the focus from the treatment
of established health problems towards prevention. There is a
need to continue to work in partnership to promote healthy lifestyle
choices, such as the provision of education, advice and guidance
for parents and young people on physical activity and balanced
diet and nutrition to reduce the incidence of obesity. (Obesity
can lead to mental distress and to experiences of exclusion).
The EU can help by encouraging Member States to identify and target
support on those people who need more help than others.
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