People with mental health issues ‘to be helped to work’

The government has announced its plans to increase well-being among the UK workforce by offering support designed to help Britons with mental health conditions either secure or maintain employment.

Under the new support strategy, a network of mental health coordinators will be launched in every Jobcentre Plus district to help speed up the coordination of health and employment support.

Meanwhile, nine occupational health advice lines will also be piloted, designed to help people stay in work once mental health issues arise.

Commenting on the scheme, secretary of state for work and pensions Yvette Cooper said: “We are also helping employers understand what they can do to help people stay in their jobs and manage their condition so that they don’t have to leave work and fall on to benefits at all.”

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Mental health charity Mind stated that unemployment is frequently viewed as “personal failure”, when in reality in many cases people with such issues are let down by employers unwilling to hire someone they perceive will be “more work”.