The Duke of Cambridge introduces a new workplace mental health initiative

The visit started with The Duke of Cambridge taking part in a roundtable discussion about the current workplace mental health landscape.

His Royal Highness learnt about recent research conducted by mental health charity Mind into the subject of workplace mental health.

Over 80% of the UK's working age (16-64) population in employment and 1 in 6 British workers are affected by mental health issues.  Mental ill-health is the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK with 127 million hours of work lost in 2015 due to mental health related absence – the equivalent of around 75,000 individuals losing the entire working year.

The new workplace mental health initiatives consist of a ‘Mental Health at Work’ website and online training that will aim to equip employees and managers with tools, training and a good understanding of mental wellbeing in order to create a healthy and supportive working environment.

This website will bring together curated online resources enabling employers to access workplace mental health and online training, including specific training for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), for whom it is often more difficult to provide employee mental health support.

At the conference, His Royal Highness then gave a speech highlighting the importance of senior leadership in ensuring the support and take up of mental health policies in the workplace.

I am delighted that The Royal Foundation and Mind will be launching a new Workplace Wellbeing Programme in September to support employers across the country.