Govt hopes new film will fight unfairness

06/06/2008

The government has launched a new film, which it hopes will fight mental health discrimination in the workplace.

Directed by Bharat Nalluri, director of TV dramas Hustle, Spooks and Life on Mars, it is set in a hospital and questions if the viewer would employ a worker with mental health issues.

Anne McGuire, minister for disabled people, said the film is "thought provoking" and called on employers to look past any pre-conceptions they may make about disability "so they do not lose out on recruiting the right candidates that will help their business to thrive".

The Department for Work and Pensions rolled out the new film as part of the national Employ Ability campaign.

It has visited the West Midlands, south Yorkshire, the north-west and north-east and held workshops, ministerial breakfast events and distributed information packs for local businesses.

Recent figures published by the government have shown a disturbing attitude from the general public towards mental health issues.

"One third of people think that people with mental health problems should not have the same rights to a job as everyone else," the Department for Health's survey found.

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