​Today, I wrote to the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, regarding my growing concerns about the limited powers of the ongoing inquiry into the deaths of up to 2,000 patients in mental health hospitals in Essex Partnership University Trust over the past 20 years.

The inquiry has only received the co-operation of less than 30% of named staff, who are essential witnesses in the deaths that are being investigated, leaving families in limbo and further compounding their grief.

I have called on the Health Secretary to give the inquiry the full statutory powers required to ensure families get answers and that lessons can be learned for the future. Read my full letter here:

As Mental Health Awareness Week comes to a close, I’ve been highlighting Labour’s bold plan for improving services across England, with prevention and early intervention at its heart.

On my visit to Maudsley Hospital, I spoke to the incredible Aji Lewis, who has tirelessly campaigned for Seni's Law to transform patient safety across the country. 

I spoke at a Parliamentary reception for Mental Health Foundation and joined Baton of Hope in Parliament, for a meeting with the Speaker to discuss their work on suicide prevention.

And finally, speaking to students South Thames College, I spoke about my role as Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health, holding the Government to account for failure in Mental Health services across England.

It was fantastic to be out in the gorgeous Peak District to support my friend and High Peak's next Labour MP, Jon Pearce. We first visited the Glossop Arts Project to see the amazing work they do, using art to support young people's mental health - of course, we had to indulge in the offer of a free toastie and cuppa too!

On the doorstep afterwards, we spoke to so many people fed up with the Tories, both locally and in Westminster. There are council elections coming up in May and Labour has every chance to take full control of the council here! The views were incredible, the people lovely, and I can't wait to be back!

​Today marks World Bipolar Day, which raises awareness and reduces the stigma surrounding bipolar disorder. One-in-fifty people in the UK live with bipolar disorder yet many struggle to access the services they need to get a proper diagnosis.

Living with bipolar disorder can have a devastating impact on the people struggling with the illness as well as an impact on their loved ones, which is why it is vital that people are able to get a diagnosis early. 

We need a Government that will get serious on bipolar disorder.

Labour will put prevention and early intervention at the forefront of our approach to mental health. The next Labour Government will recruit 8,500 new staff to ensure mental health treatment within a month for all who need it.

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Our latest research, shows that in 2021/22, the total number of days lost to poor mental health has doubled to more than 730,000 over the last decade. This comes at the same time that there has been a drop in the number of neighbourhood police officers by 6,000 and of Police Community Support Officers by 8,500. 

These absences equate to over 2,000 police officers being off sick each day, last year alone, due to poor mental health.

It is clear that this Conservative Government has presided over 13 years of neglect and staff shortages that have left our public services at breaking point.

The next Labour Government will recruit 8,500 more mental health professionals, ensuring a million more patients get treated each year; and we will rebuild neighbourhood policing, delivering a package of 13,000 extra neighbourhood officers and PCSOs, putting police back on the beat.

Read the full story here

For Children's Mental Health Week, I've written for LabourList about Labour's bold, transformative plan to deliver mental health care for children and young people. With children waiting days in A&E in a mental health crisis and more than one million people being turned away from mental health services without being seen, it is vital that we transform care by putting prevention at the heart of our plan.

This Government should not cut corners when it comes to young people’s mental health. Good mental health starts in childhood. Labour’s vision for future generations is one where mental health conditions are treated early. Adverse childhood experiences are the greatest driver of mental illness in adulthood – it’s just common sense to get mental health treatment right for young people in order to transform the future of the country’s mental health.

The next Labour Government will ensure access to a mental health professional in every school, and we will put an open access mental health hub in every community. Every child should have the ability to raise concerns about their mental health with someone they trust, in an environment in which they feel safe. All of this will be funded by ending tax breaks for private schools.

Read my full article here

Today, the Committee's Report on the Draft Mental Health Bill has been published - this is a once in a generation opportunity to improve the rights of patients experiencing a mental health crisis and to tackle the health inequalities enshrined in current legislation.

Over the last six months, I've been proud to work with my committee colleagues, listening to patient voices and evidence from experts.

We heard heartbreaking accounts from patients. Above all else, the legislation has to protect them and ensure they receiving appropriate care. 

For years, the Government kicked updating this legislation into the long grass, and now, the current draft bill still does not go far enough to tackle the racial disparity of those detained under the Mental Health Act. 

Patient voices must be at the heart of this legislation.

Read the full report here: 
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt5803/jtselect/jtmentalhealth/696/report.html

Today, Justin Madders MP and I met with the Retail trade union Usdaw and a group of retail workers in Westminster to talk about how the cost-of-living crisis, rising violence and abuse in stores, and the impact of Christmas holiday trade is affecting the mental health of customers and colleagues.

Far too many people are facing this Christmas period worried about how to provide for their families. With so many Usdaw members having their mental health impacted as a result of the cost-of-living crisis and increased levels of abuse in the workplace, it is deeply important that we, as politicians, take the time to listen.

​An undercover joint investigation by Sky News and The Independent has raised serious concerns about the safety of patients at inpatient settings ran by the Huntercombe Group.  

This is the third investigation into abuse in secure inpatient mental health settings, in four weeks. The system is broken.

I previously wrote to Therese Coffey, the previous Health Secretary, to raise my concerns about other similar investigations highlighting allegations of abuse, by Channel 4 Dispatches and BBC Panorama, but did not receive a response. The Government has been silent over these allegations and for weeks there wasn’t even a functioning Mental Health Minister.

Patients, and their families, deserve answers. They deserve dignity, respect and access to high quality treatment, which is why I have called for a rapid review into mental health services and the way patients are treated in inpatient settings. 

See my statement in Parliament here: 
​https://twitter.com/DrRosena/status/1587420289662492672?s=20&t=Gj2YhL3GB3Os4nSrRoGK7Q

​There is a crisis in our universities up and down the country, with record numbers of students now seeking mental health support, according to our latest research. Through Freedom of Information requests, we found that over 200,000 students sought support for their mental health across the UK in 2020-2021 – a threefold increase, since 2010. The lack of mental health support for our young people is not only affecting their health, but it also having a knock-on impact on their future prospects. 

Universities are struggling to cope with the rising demand for access to the mental health treatment students need. Every five days, a student takes their own life. 

That is why Labour has put forward a comprehensive plan, that will put prevention of the heart of mental health services. Under Labour’s plan, we will recruit 8,500 new mental health professionals by the end of our first term in office, to see an addition one million patients per year.

See more about the crisis in mental health at universities, here: https://twitter.com/DrRosena/status/1579388728153604098?s=20&t=CcG6Wxm1iHr6xo0Cfsjyww