VIEWPOINT FOR 3 DECEMBER 2009
FROM DR RICHARD TAYLOR

I attended a useful conference in Kidderminster last Friday on employment for people with mental health problems. 
Sadly there is still a stigma attached to mental illness which does not apply to other illnesses or disabilities. This is unjustified as the reality is that 1 in 4 of us will have a mental health problem in any one year so what right have we to condemn so many people, including probably ourselves at some stage in our lives?

At the conference we had representatives from Amey and McDonalds. 

I was pleased and surprised that both of these large firms have policies and practice to address this problem. Thus despite their inevitable interest in profit they do take ethical issues very seriously – how encouraging. Hopefully this applies to many other employers. 

We heard stimulating views from the Chief Executive of the West Mercia Probation Trust as so many offenders have mental health problems - and practical advice from Shropshire about how they are tackling the issue. 
It was also an excellent opportunity for bringing people in industry, social, probation and health services, local government and employment services together to meet and talk. 
I am very grateful to the Wyre Forest Multi-Agency Group and its Chairman, Anthony Goldsmith, for organising the conference, the latest in a succession of annual events on themes addressing the needs of vulnerable and often neglected groups.
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The Queen’s Speech debate last week ended with a whimper rather than a roar. 

I understand that it is not the done thing to vote against the Speech but to put down amendments to parts that then can be voted upon. The amendments that were pushed to a division were predictable and political and the results foregone conclusions. 

The valuable one to me was put down by, among others, thinking Labour rebels and was a sensibly worded addition to the Speech about making realistic plans for the future of Afghanistan . 
To my surprise, and also to that of a lot of other MPs all prepared to vote for it, this fell without a vote.
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The Government are pushing through Bills before Christmas as quickly as they can. 

#..Monday saw the Second Reading of the Financial Services Bill which passed and now goes into the Committee stage. 
#..There was also a statement about the latest revelations about the poor safety record at some hospitals and I asked the Health Secretary if he would encourage time being given for a full debate on patient safety in view of the recent Health Select Committee report on this topic that points to many reasons for poor safety in the NHS and suggests some answers.
#..Yesterday the remaining stages of the Equality Bill were to be crammed into one afternoon even though there were 58 pages of amendments in the order paper. 
This will have taken place after my deadline so I plan to report next week when the guillotine fell and how many amendments were lost because of this.
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Finally I must mention the Military Music Spectacular performed in Kidderminster Town Hall last Friday by the Central Band of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan. This was indeed spectacular and an enjoyable, triumphant demonstration of musical virtuosity.

RT

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