Mental health in Ealing should not be ignored or stigmatised

Research shows that one in four people will suffer from mental health problems at some point in their lives, however there is still stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health.

The Liberal Democrats believe that mental health should never be ignored or stigmatised. That's why we are committed to improving mental health services in Ealing, London and nationwide.

There are many reasons why people suffer short or long term incidences of mental health problems. These include a loss of their job, when family or social relationships change, developing a physical health condition.

Save Our Solace demo outside Town Hall

Not feeling you can talk about problems with someone, can mean we “bottle up” emotions which often intensifies our perception of a difficult issue.

Many voluntary groups organise and run groups which provide residents a chance to talk and take away people’s “load from their shoulders”. Many of these groups help reduce potential mental health problems without aiming to do so.

Labour’s national campaign about the NHS contrasts with the Labour party locally, who are more than prepared to close important local facilities.

Ealing Council over the past few years has closed a number of day centres, affecting many people’s mental health. Closing more facilities like Ealing’s Solace and the Carton Road Day Centre in the Acton area, will mean more users suffer.

Very recently one user of the Solace centre ended his life at Ealing Broadway station. While it is too early to know what may have led to the tragedy, this underlines the importance of ensuring that the Solace Centre and other similar centres are kept open to provide its 365-day a year support for local residents. One user said Ealing Council had played “Russian roulette with our lives.”
Services like Solace only cost a tiny expenditure in the overall Council budget. Labour cannot absolve responsibility.

Many users now do not believe what Labour say as they have closed so many centres and plan to close many more this year.

In Government the Liberal Democrats are using £400 million to help people with mental health problems get the right support early on, such as talking or psychological therapies.

We are also introducing waiting limits, so people will know for the first time how long they have to wait for mental health treatment.
Our new mental health action plan sets out our priorities for essential change in mental health, including:

• Investing over £400m to give thousands of people access to evidence-based psychological therapies.
• Children's mental health: Investing £54m in order to improve access to mental health care for children.
• Crisis Care Concordat: Making sure no one experiencing mental health crisis is ever turned away from services.
• Choice in Mental Health: Giving people the same choice for their mental healthcare as they do for their physical health.
• Liaison and Diversion: Committed £25m for a scheme that identifies health issues offenders when they enter the criminal justice system.
• Restraint: Investing £1.2m in staff training in order to reduce harmful restrictive practices.

The Liberal Democrats believe mental health should not be ignored or stigmatised. It should be taken as seriously as physical health.

Only the Liberal Democrats are making this issue a top priority.