EXCLUSIVE: The BBC is putting a renewed focus on improving the mental health of staff, creating a small wellbeing team led by a psychotherapist who contributed to a parliamentary inquiry into reality TV.
It was announced internally this week that Dr Hayley Dare will become head of wellbeing at the BBC, while Lucy Tallon, who previously worked for the film and TV charity, has been appointed wellbeing partner, and we’re told there will also be several more junior internal hires in the team.
In their newly created roles, Dare and Taron will support the mental health and wellbeing of BBC Studios employees across the BBC’s public services and commercial divisions, ensuring productions are “mentally healthier” and staff have more room to thrive. While there is already a team in place that focuses on staff wellbeing, this new department will ensure mental health remains a top priority.
“We are committed to creating an environment where our employees can thrive and do their best work,” a BBC spokesman said, confirming the hires. “These roles will support our ongoing commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of our employees as part of our established plans in this area.”
Dare is a chartered consultant clinical psychologist and recently founded workplace mental health and wellbeing portal NewRequity. He served as an expert adviser for two years from summer 2019 to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s inquiry into reality TV, which was sparked by the suicide of a contestant on the now-cancelled Jeremy Kyle Show, finished hearings last week and led to tougher duty of care rules.
Tallon most recently served as head of mental health and wellbeing at The Film & TV Charity for four years until June 2024. She has consulted for a number of large organisations and previously worked for the BBC.
While Deadline has been told the creation of the BBC’s wellbeing team was planned for one team and not a response to recent events, the news comes as mental health in the TV industry has been thrust back into the spotlight. In May, John Balson, a producer on a Channel 4 true crime documentary series, committed suicide, with his family citing a deterioration in his mental state and intense physical symptoms linked to a vestibular migraine disorder. Since then, debate has been ongoing over the TV industry’s working practices and measures to prevent relapse.
Meanwhile the BBC is grappling with the fallout from high-profile cases of bad behaviour by former presenters Huw Edwards and Jermaine Jenas, as well as the fallout from the war between Israel and Hamas, and is currently reviewing its workplace culture in the wake of the Edwards case.
