Audience hears debate on mental health
The first University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) debate to shine a light on mental health in the county has been hailed a success.
‘Question Health’, which took place on the University’s Preston Campus, saw a large audience of members of the public, students and staff in the UCLan School of Medicine, focus on mental health.
The first in the series of three, which was hosted by television presenter and University Chancellor Ranvir Singh, questioned themes around anxiety and depression, schizophrenia and bipolar, substance and alcohol abuse, dementia, and service provision.
Dr Jim Gardner, a practising GP and Deputy Head of UCLan’s School of Medicine, was one of the panellists. He said: “I think the event was a success. It was the first of a series addressing important local health issues and great to get things moving. The audience seemed very engaged and I think we all learnt from each other.”
"I thought the panel was amazing, they had so much experience and there were some really good and heartfelt questions from the audience."
The other panel members were:
- Dr John Richmond, former Managing Director of Delphi Medical, who has as worked in the addiction field for 16 years
- , Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Associate Medical Director at North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Consultant Psychiatrist and Deputy Medical Director at the Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust and Director of Medical Education
- Professor Karen Wright, Leader of UCLan’s School of Nursing and mental health researcher
The ‘Question Health’ event, which was filmed by BA (Hons) TV production students in the style of BBC’s Question Time, will be aired by the television channel That’s Lancashire in the near future.
Ranvir said: “I thought the panel was amazing, they had so much experience and there were some really good and heartfelt questions from the audience. I thought there were some real lightbulb moments and I’m really proud to have hosted the first one in this anniversary year for the University.”
Dates and locations for the second and third Question Health events are to be confirmed but debates will focus on diabetes and heart disease.