Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) make an assessment of the adequacy of access to mental health support provisions for abattoir workers and (b) take steps to ensure that workers in this industry have access to such support.

There are no plans to make such an assessment. Access to mental health services in the National Health Service is based on clinical need, including for abattoir workers.

Too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health and that people can be confident of accessing high quality mental health support when they need it, regardless of the sector in which they work.

Workers can also get help with their mental health from the NHS by speaking to their general practitioner, by self referring to local NHS Talking Therapies services, by calling NHS111 and selecting option two, or consulting the NHS or Every Mind Matters websites, or from the many voluntary, community or social enterprise organisations that provide support for people’s mental health.