Abstract
This chapter will outline how mental health has been addressed by the UK Conservative Party throughout history before highlighting the contemporary contributions of Theresa May as Home Secretary and then Prime Minister. Theresa May recognised the need to address the issue of mental health if she was to ‘build a country that worked for everyone’ and deliver for the so-called left behind. She would endeavour to do this through the construction of a modern holistic program on mental health which focused on prevention over cure. Both, the types of interventions advocated and the environments in which they were undertaken would be modernised as part of her plan. This would include the introduction of mental health taskforces in schools and colleges, prevention and promotion activities in the workplace, and the reform of the Mental Health Act. Her well-established strategy would aim to reduce the individual, social and economic costs associated with mental health. This chapter concludes that her varied success in achieving these outcomes means that her legacy remains unfinished.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Out-of-area placements are when someone is referred for inpatient care outside of their local jurisdiction.
Bibliography
Barr, B., Kinderman, P., & Whitehead, M. (2015). Trends in mental health inequalities in England during a period of recession, austerity and welfare reform 2004 to 2013. Social Science & Medicine, 127, 324–331. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615302173/pdfft?md5=ae358d529f75da93a147f320c7288953&pid=1-s2.0-S0277953615302173-mainext.pdf. Accessed 14 May 2022.
Centre for Mental Health. (2014). Current provision of mental health services—New data [Online]. https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/blogs/current-provision-mental-health-services-new-data. Accessed 12 April 2022.
Centre for Mental Health. (2017). Our response to government plans for mental health support in schools [Online]. https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/news/our-response-government-plans-mental-health-support-schools. Accessed 16 April 2022.
Crines, A., Heppell, T., & Hill, M. (2016). Enoch powell’s ‘rivers of blood’ speech: A rhetorical political analysis. British Politics, 11(1), 72–94.
Cummins, I. D. (2010). Deinstitutionalisation; mental health services in the age of neo-liberalism. University of Salford.
Cummins, I. D. (2018). The impact of austerity on Mental Health Service provision: A UK Perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(1145) [Online]. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/6/1145/htm. Accessed 12 May 2022.
Curtis, L., & Netten, A. (2013). Unit costs of health and social care: Personal social services research unit (PSSRU). University of Kent.
Evans-Lacko, S., Corker, E., Williams, P., Henderson, C., & Thornicroft, G. (2014). Effect of the time to change anti-stigma campaign on trends in mental-illness-related public stigma among the English population in 2003–13: an analysis of survey data. Lancet Psychiatry, 1 [Online]. https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S2215036614702433?token=5A67E959B12ACEEB0BD05B1DB54A9F3DBCBD732E85C9A2303B2C6EDBB1DD2BAB41C690F912315054EDF4EAE61B37C591&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20221005203515. Accessed 4 September 2021.
Great Britain. Department of Health and Social Security. (1975). Better services for the mentally ill 1975. Cm7585. The Stationary Office.
Great Britain. Department of Health and Department of Education. (2017). Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: A green paper. Cm 9523. London: The Stationary Office.
Henderson, C., Corker, E., Lewis-Holmes, E., Hamilton, S., Flach, C., Rose, D., Williams, P., Pinfold, V., & Thornicroft, G. (2012). England’s time to change antistigma campaign: One-year outcomes of service user-rated experiences of discrimination. Social Integration, 63(5). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201100422%3Fdownload%3Dtrue&hl=en&sa=T&oi=ucasa&ct=ufr&ei=rus9Y_q2JYWrywSi4rMg&scisig=AAGBfm1f1d4tD1fEJxmv3W2le-YqEeDoaw. Accessed 7 September 2021.
Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. (2018). Policing and mental health: Picking up the pieces. HMICFRS [Online]. https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/wp-content/uploads/policing-and-mental-health-picking-up-the-pieces.pdf. Accessed 12 January 2022.
Jones, K. (1955). Lunacy, law, and conscience: 1744–1845. Routledge and Kegan Paul Limited.
Kings Fund. (2015). Mental health under pressure. Kings Fund [Online]. https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/default/files/field/field_publication_file/mental-health-under-pressure-nov15_0.pdf. Accessed 12 December 2021.
London School of Economics: The Centre for Economic Performance—Mental Health Policy Group. (2006). The depression report: A new deal for depression and anxiety disorders. LSE. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/818/1/DEPRESSION_REPORT_LAYARD.pdf. Accessed 15 April 2022.
London School of Economics Centre for Economic Performance’s Mental Health Policy Group. (2012). How mental illness loses out in the NHS. LSE [Online]. https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/special/cepsp26.pdf. Accessed 2 November 2021.
Margaret Thatcher Foundation. (2011). Speech at Friern Hospital (mental health) [Online]. Margaret Thatcher Foundation. https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/101111#:~:text=Margaret%20Thatcher%2C%20M.P.%20for%20Finchley,touch%20us%2C%E2%80%9D%20she%20declared. Accessed 1 September 2021.
Mattheys, K. (2015). The coalition, austerity and mental health. Disability & Society, 30(3), 475–478 [Online]. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2014.1000513?needAccess=true Accessed 16 May 2022.
McLean, N., & Marshall, L. (2010). A front-line police perspective of mental health issues and services. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 20, 62–71 [Online].https://doi.org/10.1002/cbm.756?casa_token=GJ2PV1xZMawAAAAA:O_HpFu5pp3Vphy69ThLAIVo6ga_DZ31Q9IhJdAEjqLKFjAN77XZxsueCTgD7u8r6z3Z8zpBrB3u3ezc. Accessed 21 October 2021.
McNicoll, A. (2015, March 20). Mental health trust funding down 8% from 2010 despite coalition’s drive for parity of esteem. Community care [Online]. https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2015/03/20/mental-health-trust-funding-8-since-2010-despite-coalitions-drive-parity-esteem/. Accessed 12 January 2022.
NHS England. (2022). Mental health dashboard [Online]. https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-mental-health-dashboard/. Accessed 12 March 2022.
Parliament Street. (2019). Policing, caring and treating the effects of a mental health crisis the effects of mental health on public services. Parliament Street [Online]. http://parliamentstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Policing-Caring-and-Treating-the-Effects-of-a-Mental-Health-Crisis.pdf. Accessed 17 April 2022.
Pilgrim, D., & Carey, T. (2012). Improving access to psychological therapies: An account of recent policy aspirations in the UK and Australia. Advances in Mental Health: Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention, 10(2), 117–126. Accessed 12 September 2021.
Perkins, E. (2017, April 2). Talk it out well being centre for mental health opens at Spires Cafe, Landmark Centre, deal. KentOnline [Online]. https://www.kentonline.co.uk/deal/news/talk-it-out-here-123182/. Accessed 30 March 2022.
Policy Navigator. (2022). Enoch Powell’s ‘water tower’ speech [Online]. Policy Navigator. https://navigator.health.org.uk/theme/enoch-powells-water-tower-speech. Accessed 1 September 2021.
UK Government. (2014). Home secretary at the policing and mental health summit [Online]. UK Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretary-at-the-policing-and-mental-health-summit. Accessed 21 October 2021.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bowman, D. (2023). Theresa May and Mental Health Policy: A Legacy Unfinished?. In: Roe-Crines, A.S., Jeffery, D. (eds) Statecraft. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32472-7_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32472-7_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-32471-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-32472-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)