EXCLUSIVE: The BBC is placing renewed focus on improving staff mental health by creating a small wellbeing team led by a psychotherapist who contributed to the parliamentary inquiry into reality TV.
Dr Hayley Dare was announced internally this week as the BBC’s Head of Wellbeing, while Lucy Tallon, who used to work for The Film & TV Charity, becomes Wellbeing Partner. We understand there have also been a number of more junior, internal hires to the team.
Taking up newly-created roles, Dare and Tallon will support employees across both the public service side of the BBC and commercial arm BBC Studios with their mental health and wellbeing, aiming for productions to be more ‘mentally healthy’ and to give staff an outlet. A team focusing on staff welfare already exists but this new division places mental health front and center.
“We’re dedicated to creating an environment where employees can thrive and do their best work,” said a BBC spokeswoman, who confirmed the hires. “These roles will support our ongoing commitment to their mental health and wellbeing, as part of well-established plans in this area.”
Dare is a chartered consultant clinical psychologist who most recently founded Neurequity, a workplace mental health and wellbeing portal. She was a specialist adviser to the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee’s inquiry into reality TV for two years from the summer of 2019. That inquiry was sparked by the suicide of a contestant on the now-axed Jeremy Kyle Show, whose inquest concluded last week, and led to the tightening of duty of care rules.
Tallon was most recently Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing at The Film & TV Charity for four years up to June 2024. She has consulted with numerous large organizations and previously worked for the BBC.
While Deadline is told that the creation of the BBC wellbeing team has been in the offing for some team and is not a reaction to recent events, the news comes with mental health in the TV industry once again in the spotlight. In May, John Balson, a producer on a Channel 4 true crime series, took his own life, with his family citing his deteriorating mental health along with intense physical symptoms associated with vestibular migraine disorder. A debate has since been taking place around working practices in TV and how to prevent a repeat.
The BBC, meanwhile, has been grappling with the fallout of high-profile incidences of bad behavior from former presenters including Huw Edwards and Jermaine Jenas, along with the ongoing toll of the Israel-Hamas War. A review into workplace culture sparked by the Edwards saga is currently taking place.