The Mental Health and Well-being Needs of Public Sector Workers

Part of 3. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 3:11 pm on 24 February 2021.

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Photo of Angela Burns Angela Burns Conservative 3:11, 24 February 2021

I've listened with interest to your comments to I think it was Jayne Bryant and to David Melding. It's all about mental health and how we can keep our eyes open for people who are suffering. You will know as well as I do that organisations such as Mind have done endless surveys that show that public sector workers suffer disproportionately, take more time off work, and have greater mental health issues across the whole of Wales. I've had a number of e-mails from public sector workers in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire just saying how hard they're finding it to manage lockdown, to cope with it, like so many of us. I just wondered are there any programmes that we can put in place or are there any ways of Welsh Government being able to encourage public sector organisations to be able to really try to reach out to those who are working on their own, isolated at home or perhaps in a very busy home where they're finding it very difficult to do their jobs because of all the noise around them. They may have young children at home who aren't at school and the whole situation is getting to them. Because if you have a person in front of you or in the office just next door, you can have a much better feel for how they might be. It's very difficult to tell when you're on a Zoom call to somebody once a week. Is there anything the Welsh Government can proactively do to help public sector employers really look after those employees?