An Act to Follow?

In relation to employment, mental health difficulties are almost invariably seen as ‘problems’ to be overcome, but this is not always the case. Within services for people with mental health problems, personal experience of such difficulties can afford an expertise not shared by non‐user staff: having ‘been there’ can be positively useful. The User Employment Project at The Pathfinder Mental Health Services NHS Trust has, for over two years, provided supported employment for service users in ordinary, existing clinical posts within teams: mental health support workers, occupational therapy assistants and technicians and physiotherapy assistants. More recently, the Trust has broadened its approach and begun to examine the ways in which its more general employment practices have been discriminatory. This has lead to the development of a ‘Charter for the Employment of People who have Experienced Mental Health Problems’ covering the whole of the Trust.