Liberal Democrats put mental health on the agenda in Holyrood and Cardiff

We know that mental health has always been one of Nick Clegg's top priorities. His first major speech as Liberal Democrat leader was on the subject. In the coalition, he, Paul Burstow and Norman Lamb have been pushing forward improvements to mental health care from making sure people in crisis see health professionals and not the inside of a Police cell, to a massive expansion of talking therapies to action to tackle the stigma that still exists.

A friend of mine has recently had some time off work for Depression. She wrote on Facebook, and asked people to share, the following:

What I do want to say is that until being off work for eight weeks with depression is regarded on equal footing with the same period of time off with a physical ailment of any kind ( from a hip replacement, to heart attack,stroke, badly broken limb, severe diabetes, or any of countless medical conditions ) then we will all suffer individually and as a society. There is no "stigma" about being ill whatever form the illness takes, until this injustice is addressed society will continue to to be the poorer for it.

Liberal Democrats' input on mental health shows clearly where the party's heart is. However, people in Scotland and Wales don't benefit fro the positive changes because health is devolved to the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments. In Scotland, we have a health minister who doesn't seem to get mental health, or the importance of getting out there and making sure we have enough psychologists and consultant psychiatrists to match the growing need.

Today, the Scottish Liberal Democrats at Holyrood are using their opposition day debate to call on the Scottish Government to give mental health equal priority with physical health. Health spokesperson Jim Hume says:

It is unacceptable that mental health issues remain a faint blip on the radar of Scotland's health care priorities. One in four adults will experience mental ill health in their lifetime.

The stigma attached to mental health issues means that our friends and loved ones are told to "man up" when instead we should be pointing them in the direction of support. A postcode lottery in access to crucial psychological therapies means that 40 percent of patients in NHS Forth Valley waited longer than 18 weeks for psychological therapy compared to 10 percent of patients in NHS Glasgow and Clyde. We need equality between mental and physical health care enshrined in law.

Individuals and families across Scotland will not be surprised to hear that mental ill health is now the dominant health problem for people of working age. But they should not have to suffer in silence. Scottish Liberal Democrats are committed to building a fairer society by bringing mental health out of the shadows and that's what we will be urging the Scottish Government to do in today's debate.

Meanwhile in the Senedd, Kirsty Williams is calling for an improvement in child mental health services and the introduction of mental health education to the school curriculum. This is really important. Last year, in a very poignant debate on mental health at the Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference, Ewan Hoyle said that if children were taught to recognise the signs of poor mental health, then they could get the early help that could stop their condition worsening.

Ahead of the debate, Kirsty told Wales Online:

It's almost a decade on since the Children's Commissioner first warned that children and adolescent mental health services provision was in 'crisis across Wales', yet many child health experts assess that this is still the case today.

One in ten children and adolescents will experience a mental health issue, yet there are still serious concerns over the provision of services in Wales.

Waiting lists are too long, there is a lack of investment and focus on early intervention, too many young people are still inappropriately placed on adult mental health wards, safety checks are not common practice and many young people get lost in the transition between CAMHS and adult mental health services.

Across the whole of Britain, Liberal Democrats are speaking out on mental health. They don't get much in the way of parliamentary time and it's good to see it being used to discuss these important issues.

* Caron Lindsay is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings