'Mental health is the new bad back' – councillor

A councillor has been given advice over his language after describing mental health as the "21st Century version of the bad back".

Oliver Freeston, a Reform UK member of North East Lincolnshire Council, made the remark while he was chairing the authority's health and adult social care scrutiny panel.

He said there were people who contacted emergency services on mental health grounds "20 times a day".

Freeston has since been emailed by a council officer who urged him to "moderate his language".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Freeston said he had been told informally that East Midlands Ambulance Service and North East Lincolnshire's adult safeguarding board experienced "prolific callers who are calling up 20 times a day" on mental health grounds.

"The problem [comes] when we've got an 80-year-old lady with a fractured hip and you're tied up with other calls," he said at the scrutiny panel on 29 January.

Sue Cousland, the ambulance service's director of operations for Lincolnshire, told the meeting: "It's difficult but even though, using your wording, people might be 'prolific callers', the day they call might be the day they need care."

After the meeting, Freeston told LDRS said he was not suggesting all people with mental health conditions were faking it, and he described it as a "silent killer".

He added: "But there's now a sick note culture in the UK where people are choosing it as a career path.

"Everybody knows if you go to your GP and say, 'I've got anxiety and depression', you'll be signed off and get benefits for it."

An email seen by the BBC was sent to Freeston by a council officer on 31 January following his comment at the meeting.

The email asked him to "temper his comments somewhat" and "perhaps moderate your language, particularly when presiding as chair".

It added: "There are certain expectations of behaviour, and approach, reasonably expected of an elected member. You know that."

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