Deprofessionalised, downgraded and demoralised: why mental healthcare is going backwards

Recently, Elizabeth Cotton attended a mental health conference to join a group developing a Wellbeing Charter for people working in psychological therapies. Coming to mental health from industry, she found the lack of knowledge about the trends in the sector breathtaking and frightening. Here, she outlines the problematic role that privatisation of services is playing, and highlights a survey which aims to build up a picture of the facts of work in the mental health sector.