Theresa May promises to reform mental health care and give job equality to depressed and anxious
PM will overhaul the 1983 Mental Health Act that has been criticised for detaining sufferers in police cells unnecessarily
THERESA May will announce the biggest overhaul of mental health laws in a generation.
The PM will vow to end decades of injustice with sweeping reforms to halt prejudice and give more support to sufferers.
She will tear up the 1983 Mental Health Act, blamed for record numbers of patients detained unnecessarily — often in police cells.
It will be replaced by equalities laws to protect those with depression or anxiety from discrimination at work.
Mrs May will also pledge to hire 10,000 more staff working in NHS mental health services within the next three years.
And every school will have to train staff in mental health first aid, amid the rise of cyber bullying.
The action will be among the top commitments towards building a fairer society to be outlined in the Tories’ manifesto next week.
The PM promised action the day she took office when she described shortfalls in mental health treatment as one of the “burning injustices” in Britain.
She says it is “abundantly clear” that the discriminatory use of laws passed more than three decades ago is mainly to blame.
She says: “I am pledging to rip up the 1983 Act and introduce in its place a new law which finally confronts the discrimination and unnecessary detention that takes place too often.
“We are going to roll out mental health support to every school in the country, ensure that mental health is taken far more seriously in the workplace and raise standards of care with more mental health professionals in the NHS.”
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It will come with changes to the Equalities Act to prevent workplace discrimination as part of a series of new measures.
Mrs May says: “These reforms are a vital part of my plan to build a fairer society for all, not just the privileged few. They demonstrate the positive difference that strong and stable leadership makes.”
But last night Labour claimed mental health spending had fallen by 8.25 per cent since 2010, leaving the service with 4,800 fewer specialist nurses.
Shadow health minister Barbara Keeley said: “The Tory Government has allowed budgets for mental health services to be raided to plug financial black holes and to pay for other NHS priorities.
“Warm words will not help to tackle the injustice of unequal treatment in mental health.”
Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb, a health minister in the coaltion government, said: “The PM’s announcement on mental health stands in stark contrast to her record.
“Her Government has failed to deliver all of the extra funding for children and young people’s mental health that Lib Dems secured.”
MEANWHILE the Tories’ giant lead is staying strong and stable, an ICM poll for The Sun on Sunday found.
They are on 46 per cent with Labour stuck on 28. It implies a Tory majority of at least 132 seats.