Business leaders urge Theresa May to introduce new laws on mental health first aid in the workplace

Theresa May has been urged  by some of Britain’s leading business leaders to act on a pledge to make mental health first aid mandatory in all workplaces.

More than 50 chief executives, from banking, retail, education and utility sectors, have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister, warning that every year, workplace mental health issues cost the UK economy almost £35 billion, with 15.4 million working days lost to work-related stress, depression or anxiety.

They highlight a petition signed by more than 200,000 people, calling for a change in the law to give mental health first aid equal status to physical first aid.

Stephen Clarke, CEO of WHSmith and one of the signatories, said: “At WHSmith, our employees’ mental health is of equal importance to their physical health.

“Every one of our 14,000 employees has access to mental health support and we are proud to have the same number of mental health first aiders across our business as we do physical health first aiders. We are calling for this legislative change, alongside many other leading employers, as we firmly believe that everyone should have access to first aid support for their mental health regardless of where they work.”

Campaigners, led by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England, hope that clear support from business leaders might be the catalyst the government needs to push through the change.

The Tory manifesto last year promised the biggest shake-up of mental health provision for 30 years to tackle the "burning injustice" of current treatment, pledging to “amend health and safety regulations so that employers provide appropriate first aid training and needs assessment for mental health, as they currently do for risks to physical health.”

May vowed to scrap the "flawed" 1983 Mental Health Act, describing it "unfit for purpose," instead bringing forward a Mental Health Treatment Bill.

The move followed the Duke of Sussex’s disclosures in The Daily Telegraph that he had sought counselling to help come to terms with the death of his mother.

Natasha Devon, the mental health campaigner behind the online petition, told the Sunday Telegraph: “This Government needs to know that business will actually back change.

“The response has always been that they think people should be doing this on a voluntary basis and that they didn’t want to force businesses, which form a core part of their support, to do something they might not support.

“No government has invested as much into mental health as this one, but no government has cut so much either. What they are investing is only a third of what’s being cut.”

If implemented, the proposal would mean that any business large enough to require a first aider would also have to ensure that the same number of employees were trained in mental health.

They would be taught how to speak to someone who has a panic attack or is displaying symptoms of depression and would be able to recommend further help and support beyond that offered by the NHS.

Ms Devon said the question she got asked most when working in schools and colleges involved concerns young people had about their parents’ mental health, rather than their own.

“There is still such a stigma around mental health for the older generation,” she added. Fifty percent of people working in London who had to take time off work last year because of mental health issues lied to their boss about the reason they were not at work. The issue is still so tied up with character and professionalism. We need to change workplace culture.”

The campaigner, who suffered with mental health problems for more than 20 years before getting the help she needed, said it was a “small outlay for a massive gain” and would cost the government nothing aside from the administrative cost of changing legislation.

She added: “I cannot see a good reason not to do this. Everyone we speak to say it just seems like common sense.”

Luciana Berger, the Labour MP who has been at the forefront of the campaign for better mental health provision, welcomed the initiative by business leaders.

“We need to treat physical and mental health with the same degree of importance, whether that’s through the NHS, where people work, in universities and colleges, and in schools,” she said.

“We face a mental health crisis in the UK, linked to the gig economy and unstable and insecure work. We need to shift resources from dealing with mental health crises, and towards prevention of mental ill-health, and maintenance of good mental health. That must include better support for workers from their employers, supported by robust legislation and rights.”

Professor Mark Watson-Gandy, chairman of MHFA, said: Mental ill health costs UK businesses dearly and the negative impact on a person’s quality of life is immeasurable, so it makes complete sense that every workplace is legally bound to make provision for both mental and physical first aid.”