World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is an important day to mark.

It acts as a personal but also a corporate reminder to check in with friends, colleagues and loved ones to talk about mental health, and to make sure that people have the support they need.  But, for me, thinking and talking about mental health has got to be done every day, and not just one day a year. And while it can be easier to talk to family about our mental health, we should regularly talk to our colleagues about it too. The more you ask how someone is, the more likely you will get a truthful answer!

And that is why this year’s WMHD theme is so important, because it focuses on mental health in the workplace. The NHS provides health and wellbeing support for its workforce, and along with good quality management and management supervision debriefs we can create psychologically safe and supportive teams which is critical for success. However, we must continue to do more.

For one thing, we must continue to strive to break down the stigma associated with having a mental health issue, so we feel comfortable and safe to speak about it at home as well as at work.

As a health service, we have developed world leading programmes. These include NHS support in schools; Talking Therapy services which successfully help our staff and the public with a myriad of conditions including anxiety and depression, and provides the tools for people to help themselves. And our NHS Practitioner Health service provides free, mental health assessment, support and treatment for health and care professionals. Services such as these are having a significantly positive impact in treating people, with mental health services in England treating a million more people a year now, compared to six years ago.

World Mental Health Day is a time to reflect on the difference we can make, together or as individuals. Some of you reading this may be able to make strategic and wide-sweeping change, others not. But we can all do something. Talking to someone is free, but it can also be priceless. Never underestimate the impact you can have on a person and the difference you may make to someone’s mental health just because you took the time to speak with them. So today, in particular, talk to your friends, talk to your colleagues, and above all talk to each other about your and their mental health.