“In the past few years­­, we have seen growing, widespread business recognition of the importance of mental health in ensuring workplace wellbeing. This is why I am giving the topic pride of place. From the contributors to this conference, it is evident that a groundswell of concerted action has brought together charitable bodies, business, professional bodies, government and the NHS, to deal with the common threats to mental health and wellbeing that have become so familiar to working people. We see more than commitment, we see change. We see determined action, verifiable against agreed standards. Employers now have ready access to tested initiatives, schemes that assess their commitment to support the mental health and wellbeing of their workforce. There are schemes that offer guidance, benchmarking and accreditation, schemes that include staff surveys and audit, bringing public recognition to employers and knowledge of how they stand. Importantly, participation offers a means of gathering much needed evidence of the effectiveness of interventions and the return on investment in realising the commitments that have been made.”

Dame Carol Black Expert Adviser on Health and Work Public Health England and NHS England