Centre for Mental Health welcomes Care Quality Commission survey but urges mental health services to do more to help people with mental health problems secure employment

09 August 2011

“Mental health services must do more to ensure that people with mental health problems find and keep work.” said Centre for Mental Health Chief Executive Sean Duggan today, commenting on the results of the 2011 survey of people who use community mental health services published by the Care Quality Commission.

The survey found that only 15 per cent of respondents are in any regular paid work and, despite the fact that policy guidance states that people with mental health needs should receive support on day to day matters such as employment, 43 per cent of respondents who wanted support to find or keep work had not received help to do so from anyone in NHS mental health services in the past year.

Sean Duggan said: “Employment support should be part of the care plan. We know that work is good for health. Securing employment promotes recovery, aids rehabilitation and reduces the risk of social exclusion often faced by people with serious mental health problems.  Now we must listen to what mental health service users say about the care they receive and the support they would like to get in future, and bring about the changes needed to make sure people get the help that they need to lead full and productive lives.”

The report also found that 38 per cent of respondents had not had a review of their care in the last 12 months, and almost a third of respondents would have liked support with their physical health needs.