These are the recommendations of the Health and Social Care Committee ‘Connecting the dots: tackling mental health inequalities in Wales’ report.
Recommendation 1. The mental health and wellbeing of the population will not improve, and in fact may continue to deteriorate, unless effective action is taken to recognise and address the impact of trauma, and tackle inequalities in society and the wider causes of poor mental health. This message, combined with a clear ambition to reduce mental health inequalities, must be at the centre of Welsh Government’s new mental health strategy. More ›
Recommendation 2. Ideally in its response to our report, but at latest by July 2023, the Welsh Government should provide a frank appraisal of which policy, legislative and financial levers for tackling poverty and other social determinants of mental health are held by the Welsh Government, and which are within the control of the UK Government. This appraisal should be accompanied by a realistic assessment of how far the Welsh Government can go in improving the mental health and wellbeing of the population using the levers within the Welsh Government’s control, and information about how the Welsh and UK Governments are working together to ensure the levers at the UK Government’s disposal are used to best effect to improve mental health and wellbeing in Wales. More ›
Recommendation 3. By December 2023 the Welsh Government should have commissioned an independent review of the existing evidence, and such further research as may be necessary, to explore the impact of the UK welfare system on mental health and wellbeing in Wales, and what effect the devolution of welfare and/or the administration of welfare could have on tackling physical and mental health inequalities in Wales. The review and research should take into account issues of principle, as well as the practicalities and associated financial implications of retaining the current situation or any further devolution. The Welsh Government should commit to publishing the outcome of the review and research. More ›
Recommendation 4. The Welsh Government should set out how the new mental health strategy will ensure that people with severe and enduring mental illness will have routine access to physical health checks, and what actions will be taken to minimise the impact of factors such as poverty, disadvantage and diagnostic overshadowing on this group. More ›
Recommendation 5. The Welsh Government should, in line with the recommendation from our advisory group, publish a roadmap setting out clear actions at national and local level to improve mental health among neurodivergent people. This should be published by July 2023, and include actions to simplify and make more accessible the process for adults and children to be assessed/diagnosed for neurodivergent conditions. More ›
Recommendation 6. In its response to our report, the Welsh Government should provide assurance that work to develop cross-cutting early support for children and young people who may be neurodivergent, and their families, before they receive a formal diagnosis will be progressed with pace and urgency. This should include setting out what specific actions will be taken and when, and details of when and how evaluation will be undertaken to assess whether people’s experiences and outcomes are improving. Consideration should be given to the use of peer support approaches, video buddies and neurodivergent champions. More ›
Recommendation 7. In its response to our report, the Welsh Government should set out a clear timeline for the urgent review of mental health provision for deaf people and commit to providing us with an update on the review and any conclusions or emerging findings by July 2023. It should also provide assurances that the review will take account of the issues raised by the All Wales Deaf Mental Health and Well-Being Group in its report, Deaf People Wales: Hidden Inequality, and consider whether the establishment of a national specialist deaf mental health service for Wales is required. More ›
Recommendation 8. In its response to our report, the Welsh Government should provide an update on the implementation of the recommendations made by the Auditor General for Wales in his 2018 report, Speak my language: overcoming language and communication barriers in public services. More ›
Recommendation 9. In its response to our report, the Welsh Government should outline what duties are on health boards and other public services to provide interpretation and translation services for languages other than Welsh and English. In doing so, it should provide assurance that the duties in place are adequate, and are being implemented effectively, to reduce the reliance on family members or community volunteers to provide interpretation or translation other than in urgent or emergency cases. More ›
Recommendation 10. We endorse and reiterate recommendation 1 made by the Equality and Social Justice Committee in its October 2022 report, Gender based violence: the needs of migrant women, that the Welsh Government should consider creating and maintaining a directory of recognised interpreters. More ›
Recommendation 11. By July 2023 the Welsh Government should publish the key deliverables and qualitative and quantitative measures for the impact of the trauma-informed framework for Wales, and put in place a robust evaluation framework. If the Welsh Government is not able to commit in its response to our report to the work being completed within this timeframe, it should explain why it is not achievable and provide information about when the timescales within which the measures and evaluation framework will be completed. More ›
Recommendation 12. The Welsh Government should work with relevant organisations to ensure that appropriate and supportive information on attachment and parent-child relational health is provided to expectant parents and new parents, for example in literature and via antenatal classes. In line with our recommendation 22, the Welsh Government should provide us with an update on this work in December 2023. More ›
Recommendation 13. The Welsh Government should work with partners including local authorities, Regional Partnership Boards and community organisations to use the outcomes of its recent community mental health service mapping exercise to co-produce an online directory of community and digital services available locally, regionally and nationally across Wales. The directory should be publicly accessible, should be designed to complement and signpost to information that already exists rather than duplicating it, and should include information about what support is available and how it can be accessed, including whether a referral is required. More ›
Recommendation 14. To accompany the publication and ongoing implementation of the social prescribing framework, the Welsh Government should develop and deliver targeted communication campaigns to promote awareness of social prescribing and the new framework among health professionals, services and community groups and organisations to which people could be prescribed, and the general public. More ›
Recommendation 15. The Welsh Government’s social prescribing framework should include measures by which the health and social impacts and outcomes of social prescribing schemes at local, regional and national levels can be assessed. The Welsh Government should commit to publishing data as part of the ongoing evaluation of the social prescribing framework to enable us and stakeholders to monitor the impact of both social prescribing and the social prescribing framework. More ›
Recommendation 16. In its response to our report, the Welsh Government should outline what actions it will take to develop a more professional structure for the social prescribing workforce, including how it will address variation in pay, terms and conditions, and improve funding sustainability for such roles. In line with our recommendation 22, the Welsh Government should provide us with an update on this work in December 2023. More ›
Recommendation 17. In its response to our report, the Welsh Government should set out how it, working with Health Education and Improvement Wales and Social Care Wales, will monitor the impact of the actions in the mental health workforce plan aimed at improving staff wellbeing. It should also commit to publishing annual reports setting out whether the actions in the plan are having the intended impact, and if not, what will be done differently. The first annual report should be published no later than December 2023. More ›
Recommendation 18. Once the Welsh Government has published its draft budget for 2023-24, it should confirm which of the actions in the mental health workforce plan have been allocated full funding, which have been allocated partial funding, and which have not yet been allocated funding. It should also provide details of which partially-funded or unfunded actions will be prioritised should further funding become available. More ›
Recommendation 19. The Welsh Government should work with neurodivergent people to co-produce training and awareness-raising campaigns to increase understanding in schools and across public services of neurodiversity. The focus of the training should be on understanding neurodivergent people’s lives, how to support and help them, and developing positive, constructive and helpful attitudes and culture, not just on specific conditions. In line with our recommendation 22, the Welsh Government should provide us with an update on this work in December 2023. More ›
Recommendation 20. The Welsh Government should ensure that the workforce survey to be undertaken across health and social care as part of the mental health workforce plan is undertaken as a matter of urgency, and no later than July 2023. The Welsh Government should work with groups and communities identified through analysis of the diversity data gathered through the survey as being underrepresented in the mental health workforce, and with neurodivergent people, to design and deliver a mentoring and support programme to help them enter the mental health workforce. In line with our recommendation 22, the Welsh Government should provide us with an update on this work in December 2023. More ›
Recommendation 21. The Welsh Government should require its civil servants to include, in every submission made to Welsh Government Ministers seeking a decision on policy, legislative, spending or taxation proposals, an assessment of how the recommended course of action will contribute to improving the mental health and wellbeing of the people of Wales. More ›
Recommendation 22. The Welsh Government should provide us with annual updates on progress made in implementing the recommendations set out in this report. The first annual update should be provided in December 2023. More ›
Recommendation 23. In its response to our report, the Welsh Government should commit to commissioning and publishing independent interim and final evaluations of its new mental health strategy. The interim evaluations should include assessment of the impact of the strategy to date on the mental health and wellbeing of Wales’ population, the outcomes it has achieved, and any learning points or recommendations for change. Alongside each interim evaluation report, the Welsh Government should publish details of what actions it will take in response to any learning points or recommendations for change. More ›
Recommendation 24. In its response to our report, the Welsh Government should confirm that the data to be collated and published as part of the mental health core dataset will enable us and stakeholders to see and track progress over time in mental health inequalities relating to access to mental health services and outcomes for different groups and communities. This should include information about what data will be included, how frequently data will be published, what analysis will be undertaken, and confirmation that the data will be disaggregated on the basis of diversity characteristics. More ›
Recommendation 25. Following the completion of the research commissioned from the University of South Wales on measuring clinical and social outcomes, the Welsh Government should set out a timetable for the development and implementation of wellbeing measures to inform the monitoring and evaluation of the impact the new mental health strategy has on tackling mental health inequalities. In line with our recommendation 22, the Welsh Government should provide us with an update on this work in December 2023. More ›
Recommendation 26. The Welsh Government should work with the police and crime commissioners and the police forces in Wales to identify opportunities to improve access for police officers to ongoing training in mental health awareness, suicide prevention, neurodiversity awareness, learning disability awareness, and cultural competence. In line with our recommendation 22, the Welsh Government should provide us with an update on this work in December 2023. More ›
Recommendation 27. In its response to our report, the Welsh Government should provide an update on its discussions with the UK Government on the draft Mental Health Bill. This should include information about whether the Welsh Government has reached a view on whether it supports the UK Government’s intention to legislate in the devolved area of mental health, details of the analysis and consultation undertaken by the Welsh Government to inform its view on this matter, and information about the actions taken by the Welsh Government to ensure that the different legislative and policy contexts in Wales and England are being taken into account in the development of the legislation and planning for its implementation. More ›
Table of Contents
— Summary
— Mental health is 'made' in communities
— Coordinated cross-government action
— Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983
— Annex: Mental health and emotional support