Sainsbury Centre welcomes psychiatrists' manifesto for fair deal for mental health

2 July 2008

People with mental health problems are still kept back from pursuing their ambitions and fulfilling their potential in life, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health chief executive Angela Greatley said today.

Welcoming the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Fair Deal for Mental Health manifesto, Angela Greatley said: "The everyday experience of too many people with all kinds of mental health problems is too often one of exclusion and discrimination.

"As the NHS reaches 60 years, we can celebrate the achievements of mental health services in moving away from the Water Tower hospitals of old towards the community-based services that exist today. But we need to acknowledge how much remains to be done to offer people with mental health problems the chance to get on with their lives as they choose free of the barriers that are too often still put in their way.

"The Fair Deal for Mental Health report sets out major challenges for all of us. Equality for people with mental health problems can be achieved if there is concerted action, led at Cabinet level, across government to make a fair deal a reality for the one quarter of the population who experience mental distress in their lives."