Centre for Mental Health

Sainsbury Centre welcomes New Horizons and calls for investment in better mental health

23 July 2009

Promoting good mental health for all and better life chances for people affected by mental ill health should be priorities for the whole of government, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health chief executive Angela Greatley said today.

Welcoming the Government's consultation paper on the next ten years of mental health policy, New Horizons, Angela Greatley said: "We are pleased that the Government has recognised the importance of early intervention in mental health. A person's life chances should not be dictated by the mental health problems they experience in childhood.

"We warmly welcome the Government's commitment to creating healthier workplaces. Mental ill health costs British business £25 billion a year. So action to improve mental health at work should be a national priority.

"And we welcome the importance New Horizons places on helping people with mental health problems to recover their lives as well as treating mental illness. Helping people to lead the lives they want for themselves should become the defining feature of English mental health services in the twenty-first century.

"We believe that this principle should extend to the many thousands of offenders and prisoners who have a complex mix of mental health problems and who too frequently get excluded from care and support services. Full implementation of the Bradley Report is essential to achieve this and should be included in the final New Horizons strategy.

"Ten years ago, the National Service Framework for Mental Health set out a radical new path for mental health services in England. It heralded the creation of thousands of new community teams who help people with mental health problems to stay out of hospital and manage their illness.

"The challenge now is to create services that enable people with mental health problems to lead their lives as equal citizens. And we must begin concerted action to break the link between childhood mental ill health and impoverished life chances.

"New Horizons takes us one step closer to those twin goals. We hope that the consultation that follows will generate practical proposals that can be put into action nationwide to bring about the sea change we need in the mental wellbeing of our nation."

You can read our response to New Horizons below.

Our response to the New Horizons consultation - October 2009 (223 KB)