Ruby Wax will be one of the 250 people coming together from across Kent, Surrey and Sussex as part of a ‘Call to Action’ on the importance of mental health and wellbeing across the region.

The ‘Valuing Mental Health’ conference will bring together patients, the public, healthcare professionals, voluntary organisations and other partners to rethink the way mental health problems are addressed in the South East and encourage joint working in the delivery of mental health services.

Mental illness is common, and amongst people aged under 65 nearly half of all ill health is mental illness. Yet only a quarter of all those suffering from a mental illness, such as depression, are in receipt of treatment. The conference will consider the impact of this – including hearing about the experiences of children and young people living with mental health problems and those that go on to offend.

The aims of the day are:

• To bring patients, the public, healthcare professionals, voluntary organisations and other partners together to look at how mental health services in the region are run and to share innovation and best practice.
• To encourage integrated working in the delivery of mental health services based around an understanding of the underlying cause and the needs of patients and their carers.
• To make sure mental health gets the same importance as physical health conditions – by achieving a ‘parity of esteem’.
• To generate debate on the main challenges and ideas for the development of strategies for improving mental health which will ensure the consistent delivery of the highest quality care for patients across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Dr Caroline Jessel, Clinical Strategy Lead for NHS England (Kent and Medway) said:

“We need to stop thinking of mental health services as separate to physical health services. Mental health problems are common and can be very disabling.

“We want to empower people and their families with their communities to help prevent and address the challenge of mental health problems. We need to recognise that people who are physically unwell often have mental health problems too. We need to create a system that works together for all our patients wherever and whenever they need help.

“This conference is an exciting step and we are committed to learning and building on our shared responsibility to value mental health”

Ruby Wax, Mental Health Campaigner said:

“We need to take the stigma out of mental illness. People shouldn’t be ashamed of it.

“I am delighted to join so many people to talk openly about their mental health and also the mental health care they receive, and that through talking and learning from each other, mental health problems will be given the same status as physical health problems.”

Dr Angela Busuttil, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said:

“I am delighted to be part of this conference – this is an important step in bringing together patients, public and health care workers so that we can help create a seamless way of working. This in turn will help patients get the care they need.

“It is really important that we work together to treat individuals in a more holistic way so that a patients physical and mental health can be looked at as a whole, and that we learn from each other and our collective successes and challenges.”