19 Rejected

Identify farming and veterinary mental health as priorities and develop specific NHS staff training.

Recommendation
It is very important for the farming and veterinary communities to feel that their circumstances are understood by NHS staff when seeking to access, or receiving, support (otherwise this may work against help-seeking behaviours). Charities with specialist-knowledge can gain people’s trust from a position of credibility, so it makes sense to engage them to boost NHS staff understanding and/or to develop occupationally specific mental health initiatives, to provide a model for the NHS to improve support for farming and veterinary mental health. We recommend that DHSC and DEFRA identify farming and veterinary mental health as high priorities for action and by September 2023, develop a work programme with NHS England, public health and agricultural and veterinary charities to identify measures and targets to improve mental health outcomes for these occupational groups; and that DHSC mandate Health Education England to work with agricultural and veterinary charities to develop a training programme for rural NHS providers and staff to be launched by Autumn 2023, about these occupational groups’ mental health needs to improve their care. (Paragraph 136) 80 Rural Mental Health
Government Response Summary
The government recognizes the importance of mental health for farming and veterinary communities but explicitly rejects developing a work programme with specific measures and targets, citing misalignment with NHS England's operating model. It also states there are no plans to commission a specific training programme for rural NHS staff.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government Rejected
The government recognises the critical importance of good mental health and wellbeing to the agricultural and veterinary communities and notes with concern the evidence contained in the report. Defra’s Farming and Countryside Programme works with several farming charities to ensure planned changes in policy are delivered effectively and seeks to minimise any additional burden placed on farmers and landowners. Defra has contributed to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) Big Farming Survey, which highlighted mental health challenges for farming communities... DHSC does not plan to develop a workplan with NHSE and local health and occupation charities, since setting and managing targets for local systems would not align with NHSE’s new operating model, following the recommendations of the Hewitt Review. However, DHSC is progressing other ways of improving the support available for those within the agricultural and veterinary sectors... There are currently no plans to commission Health Education England, now NHS England, to develop a specific training programme for rural NHS providers and staff. However, NHS care providers must assess the learning needs of their workforce and ensure that their staff are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and expertise to deliver services to all the communities they serve. Employees have free access to a broad quantity of specialist materials via e- learning platforms and a mechanism is in place for NHS care providers to submit any identified gaps in training provision to ICBs to support the workforce planning processes. Government works closely with the veterinary profession, including the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and the British Veterinary Association (BVA). Defra officials regularly engage with both these organisations as well as the wider profession. The profession has several initiatives in place, such as the RCVS Mind Matters Initiative and the BVA Good Veterinary Workplace Scheme and note too, the work that is being done by organisations such as VetLife to support the mental health of veterinary professionals.
Timeline
Recommendation age 3.0 yrs
Report published 18 May 2023