The Mental Health Taskforce and Employment

Today, MPs will debate and discuss a new report from the independent Mental Health Taskforce. It makes a variety of recommendations to achieve equality between mental health and physical. We welcome its focus on mental health and employment, in particular extending the Individual Placement Support (IPS) model to support even more people into work.

The Mental Health Taskforce made a series of recommendations for improving outcomes in mental health by 2020/21. It focuses not just on mental health care but also the wider inequalities in housing, social inclusion and employment that people with mental health problems face.

With regards to employment it discusses:

Recommendations

The Taskforce suggests that current support to get people into work isn't working for people with mental health problems and advocates the IPS model, based on eight key principles.

We’ve seen a lot of success with our own IPS services in Camden, Barnet and Haringey already. In fact, our Barnet IPS service has recently been marked as a Centre of Excellence! So we’re pleased to see the independent taskforce backing our approach.

There must be a doubling of access to Individual Placement and Support programmes… should prioritise investment in health-led interventions that are proven to work for people with mental health problems.

The importance of work

The report outlines the link between work and mental health, and how vital work is to wellbeing. 

 Employment and health form a virtuous circle: suitable work can be good for your health, and good health means that you are more likely to be employed

The employment gap

Disappointing statistics compare employment rates between different groups to show the extent of the disadvantage in mental health (43% of people with mental health problems in employment, compared to 74% of general population and 65% of people with other health conditions). 

The employment rate for adults with mental health problems remains unacceptably low...For people being supported by secondary mental health services there is a 65 per cent employment gap compared with the general population.

Find out more about IPS.

Download the full report.

The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health: A report from the independent Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS in England was published in February 2016. The Taskforce was launched by NHS England and was independently chaired by Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind. It will be debated in England on Wednesday 13 April 2016 from 2.30 to 4.00pm. 

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