Richard Layard: UK needs a dedicated mental health minister

A labour peer is to call for greater focus on mental health and the appointment of a dedicated minister.

According to Politics.co.uk, in a speech to the London School of Economics, Richard Layard will make the case for the need for a mental health minister at Cabinet level.

He claims that the condition is responsible for much of the UK's social issues and as such demands more government attention, warning that treatment has not improved at the same pace as education and living standards.

"This situation will not be altered without a radical change that reflects the importance of mental health in our national life," he is expected to say in the speech.

"It requires a separate cabinet minister for mental health and social care within the Department of Health."

Some improvements have been made to how mental health is viewed, with 77 per cent of people agreeing in an NHS study that mental illness is an illness like any other.

However, only 25 per cent of respondents agreed that most women who were once patients in a mental hospital can be trusted as babysitters, showing that work still needs to be done.

Find the nearest Barchester care home