Duke rebukes Army over mental health
Duke asks why physical training in Armed Forces is not being matched by psychological preparation
The Duke of Cambridge has questioned whether the British Army can legitimately claim to “be the best” after suggesting it has been too slow to implement full mental health training. The Duke, who as monarch will one day be head of the Armed Forces, said he had “never really understood” why the Army had not always matched its physical training with mental health provision. He spoke out as he and the Duchess of Cambridge visited the seaside resort of Blackpool.
THE Army must demand both mental and physical fitness if it wants to legitimately claim to “be the best”, the Duke of Cambridge has said, as he suggests it has been slow to implement full mental health training.
The Duke, who will one day be head of the Armed Forces, said he has “never really understood” why the Army had not always matched its physical training with mental health provision, ensuring soldiers are at their peak in all senses. During a visit to Blackpool, in which he and the Duchess raised concerns about the plight of families living in squalor, he focused on the key issue of mental health throughout society.
Speaking to members of the emergency services, the Duke said more needed to be done around supporting their mental health and suggested he felt the both the “blue lights” and Army have been historically slow to act.
“If we can get the blue-light community, the Army and others to be able to say ‘this is essential’... because I never really understood why the Army, for instance, only recently started putting mental health training in. You’re physically trained to do all the stuff you do, but never once in the process was the mental aspect of what you were going to see [while] fighting.
“It’s taking time to catch up [and] we are getting it right, but I think we still have a way to go yet. But if the bluelight community can really grapple with this and set a very good example, it will come across through to society much quicker than it has.”
In the past couple of years, the Army has increased its efforts for those experiencing mental health problems.
Last year, the forces launched a pocket guide to help those struggling with their mental health, created by the Samaritans and the Ministry of Defence, which is spending £220million over the next decade to improve mental health services for personnel.
An Army spokesman said: “We take the mental health of our personnel extremely seriously and we are working hard to tackle the stigma around coming forward and asking for help.”
The MOD said its new 24-hour help line has already taken more than 1,500 calls from serving personnel.
The Duke and Duchess had been visiting a Blackpool programme where health visitors, nurses, drug and alcohol abuse counsellors and former addicts convened to discuss the town’s challenge. They also visited houses in one of Blackpool’s most deprived areas, where children recently lived in squalor, which shocked them, said the official who showed them around.
In a speech, the Duke spoke of the “dispiriting” challenges facing the town, which has gone from the “jewel in the crown” of seaside resorts to “testing times”. They later visited a former B&B on Kirby Road, which was covered in black mould and graffiti.
The couple also got a glimpse of the lighter side of the seaside town, with a walkabout and a trip to Blackpool Tower, which the Duchess promised to bring their three children back to.