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Found 1,157 results
  1. News Article
    Dilapidated mental health facilities across the country are in need of £677m worth of repairs to fix sewerage issues, collapsing roofs and wards that deprive patients of their dignity, The Independent has been told. An NHS analysis of the government’s flagship programme to build 40 hospitals, seen by The Independent, shows ministers have failed in their promise of “parity” for mental health services as issues are not addressed. NHS trust and psychiatry leaders warned that the out-of-date buildings are putting patients at risk and urged the government to include six mental health hospitals within its next round of improvements. Data analysis by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, shared with The Independent, found that the cost of fixing “high and significant” risks in mental health and learning disability hospitals has rocketed from £92m in 2019-20 to £186m in 2021-22 – far higher than the 16 per cent increase in costs seen in acute hospitals. These are risks that must be fixed to avoid “catastrophic” failure or safety problems that could result in serious injury. Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive at NHS Providers, said patients and staff are at risk because so many buildings aren’t fit for purpose, and warned that things will get worse until mental health trusts get the capital funding they need. Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 December 2022
  2. News Article
    One in 10 health workers in England had suicidal thoughts during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to research that highlights the scale of its mental impact. The risk of infection or death, moral distress, staff shortages, burnout and the emotional toll of battling the biggest public health crisis in a century significantly affected the mental wellbeing of health workers worldwide. A study involving almost 20,000 responses to two surveys reveals the full extent of the mental health impact on workers at the height of the pandemic. Research led by the University of Bristol analysed results from two surveys undertaken at 18 NHS trusts across England. The first was carried out between April 2020 and January 2021 and completed by 12,514 workers. The second – covering October 2020 to August 2021 – was completed by 7,160. The first survey found that 10.8% of workers reported having suicidal thoughts in the preceding two months, while 2.1% attempted to take their own life in the same period. Some 11.3% of workers who did not report suicidal thoughts in the first survey reported them six months later, with 3.9% – about one in 25 – saying they had attempted to take their own life for the first time. Responses showed that a lack of confidence in raising safety concerns, feeling unsupported by managers, and having to provide a lower standard of care were among the factors contributing to staff distress. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 June 2023
  3. News Article
    More than 5,000 mental health patients have been sent at least 62 miles from home for treatment in the two years since ministers pledged to banish the “dangerous” practice. The disclosure prompted calls for the “scandal” of out of area placements in mental health care to end, with claims that it represents “another broken government promise on the NHS”. Chronic shortages of mental health beds have for years forced the health service in England to send hundreds of patients a month to be admitted for care, sometimes a long way from their own area. Mental health campaigners, psychiatrists and patients’ families have argued that being far from home can make already vulnerable patients feel isolated, deprive them of regular visits from relatives, increase the risk of self-harm and reduce their chances of making a recovery. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 June 2023
  4. News Article
    GP records show a sharp rise in teenage girls in the UK developing eating disorders and self-harming during the Covid pandemic, a study has found. The increases were greatest among girls living in the wealthiest areas, which could be due to better GP access. Young women have told the BBC that the lack of control over their lives during lockdown was a behavioural trigger. Eating disorders and self-harming have been rising among children and young people for a number of years but "increased substantially" between 2020 and 2022, the study found. Over that period, around 2,700 diagnoses of eating disorders were anticipated among 13-16-year-olds, but 3,862 were actually observed - 42% more than the expected figure. Dr Shruti Garg, from the University of Manchester - a child and adolescent psychiatrist and the study author - called it a "staggering rise" which highlighted an urgent need to improve early access to support. Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 June 2023
  5. News Article
    An independent patient transport provider is taking legal action against the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after an inspection led to it being unable to operate for nearly three months. The company, called Specialist Medical Transport (SMT), transports many mental health patients between hospitals, and is used by numerous NHS commissioners and trusts. Its “north” division, which is based in North Shields, North Tyneside, was unable to operate between the middle of January and the end of March, which it says has led to reputational damage and loss of revenue. The inspectors, who visited in response to concerns raised by a whistleblower, found issues with paperwork on employment, risk assessments, and use of restrictive practices, including of some patients effectively in a “cell”, or handcuffed, in an ambulance. The CQC was also critical of the lack of processes to ensure patients had medicines, food, drink and access to toilets during the journey. However, SMT successfully appealed the CQC’s notice of decision at a first tier tribunal, which found the regulator’s decision “was not necessary, reasonable or proportionate”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 19 June 2023
  6. News Article
    More than a quarter of patients on antidepressants in England - about two million people - have been taking them for five years, the BBC has found. This is despite there being limited evidence of the benefits of taking the drugs for that length of time. A doctor who runs an NHS clinic helping people off the pills says withdrawal symptoms can make it hard for some to stop taking their medication. Withdrawal guidance was updated in 2019, but he says little has changed. More than eight million people in England are on antidepressants - which are prescribed for depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder and other conditions. That's one million more people than five years previously, NHS prescribing figures show. The investigation also uncovered evidence that a leading drug company attempted 27 years ago to conceal possible withdrawal effects that one drug could cause. Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 June 2023
  7. News Article
    Ministers have been accused of failing to grasp the “tidal wave” of mental ill health blighting children’s lives, after research found that only a quarter of English primaries will be able to offer vital school-based support by the end of next year. With almost one in five pupils aged 7 to 16 now thought to have a mental health disorder, specialist support teams were set up to work with children in schools, addressing early symptoms and reducing pressure on overstretched NHS services. According to new figures shared exclusively with the Guardian, however, pupils in almost three-quarters (73.4%) of primary schools in England will have had no access to the new mental health support teams (MHSTs) by the end of 2024. The research follows reports that a quarter of a million children in the UK with mental health problems have been denied help by the NHS, with some trusts failing to offer treatment to 60% of those referred by GPs. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 June 2023
  8. News Article
    NHS England has described the Metropolitan Police commissioner’s warning that his force will stop responding to emergency mental health calls as ‘very disappointing’, HSJ has learned. Last month, Sir Mark Rowley told NHS and social care chiefs he had instructed his force to withdraw from health-related calls in the capital no later than 31 August – a warning which attracted high-profile media coverage. Sir Mark stressed the “urgency” of needing to implement a model that originated in Humberside called “right care right person”, where after a year of tense negotiations, police and health services reached an agreement under which many mental health calls are dealt with by health professionals rather than officers. NHSE’s letter says it agrees with the issues Sir Mark raises, adding it is inappropriate for police to spend significant amounts of time on mental health callouts. But it adds that the NHS was “very disappointed” to receive the commissioner’s letter, stressing that the problem is better solved in partnership than unilaterally declaring the force will not respond to calls. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 8 June 2023
  9. News Article
    Many media stories about ketamine as a treatment for psychiatric disorders such as depression “go well beyond the evidence base” by exaggerating the efficacy, safety and longevity of the drug or by overstating the risks, an analysis has found. Researchers examined 119 articles about ketamine and mental illness published by major print media in Australia, the US and UK over a five-year period. They found articles peaked in 2019, when the US Food and Drug Administration approved a ketamine-derived nasal spray known as esketamine for treatment-resistant depression. Researchers found 37% of articles contained inaccurate information, largely related to efficacy, safety information and the longevity of the effect of the treatment. Ketamine treatment was portrayed in an “extremely positive light” in 69% of articles, the review found. “Overly optimistic statements from medical professionals regarding efficacy or safety may encourage patients to seek treatments that may not be clinically appropriate,” says the paper, published in the journal BJPsych Open. “Disconcertingly, some articles included strong statements about treatment efficacy that went well beyond the evidence base. Conversely, exaggeration of the risks may discourage patients from pursuing a treatment that may be suitable for them.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 8 June 2023
  10. News Article
    Children presenting with 'high-risk' behaviours are being cared for in NHS paediatric wards that may put them and others at risk of harm, according to a new report from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB). HSIB's interim report warns that the placement of children and young people with complex mental health issues on NHS paediatric wards can impact on the wellbeing of these patients and their families, and pose a risk to other patients and staff. The report emphasises that paediatric wards are designed to care for patients who only have physical health needs and not for those who are exhibiting high-risk behaviours, which include attempts to die by suicide, self-harm, attempts to leave the hospital without permission, and episodes of violence and aggression. Examples of children and young people being restrained or sedated in front of other sick and vulnerable patients, families feeling concerned for their and their children's safety during incidents, rooms being stripped down to remove any risk of self-harm or death by suicide, and paediatric staff being physically assaulted are cited in the report. Saskia Fursland, HSIB national Investigator, said,"We know that NHS staff are trying to provide a safe environment for their patients, but they are facing difficult choices in wards that are not designed to support children and young people displaying high-risk behaviours. Our ongoing investigation will take a longer-term look at effective design, adaptations and risk management in the wards. A whole system response is now needed to ensure we can keep children and young people safe." Read full story Source: Medscape, 25 May 2023
  11. News Article
    Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has written to health leaders warning the force will stop sending officers to attend thousands of 999 calls about mental health incidents. The ban will only be waived if a threat to life is feared. The move by Scotland Yard follows the rollout of a similar policy by Humberside Police in 2020 called Right Care Right Person, which sees mental health professionals dealing with calls. An inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services in November found the switch had saved the force – which has mental health workers from the charity Mind in the force control room – 1,100 police hours per month. However, there is a concern that healthcare services cannot possibly set up an appropriate response that will keep vulnerable individuals safe within three months. Read full story Source: Independent, 31 May 2023
  12. News Article
    Failing mental health services that do not improve, whether run by private firms or the NHS, could be shut, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) chief has said. It follows the watchdog judging as "inadequate" three child wards at the Priory Group's biggest hospital. The wards at Cheadle Royal, near Manchester, "did not always provide safe care", the CQC found. The unannounced inspection of Cheadle Royal took place earlier this year "in response to concerns about safety". BBC News first reported in January three women had died at the hospital last year, although not in the wards inspected for this report. The CQC's new director of mental health services, Chris Dzikiti, said he was determined to drive up standards in all units and warned he will close services who fail to improve. Read full story Source: BBC News, 31 May 2023
  13. News Article
    A chief executive has compared a lack of investment into mental health estate to ‘institutionalised discrimination’, after no new schemes were accepted on to the ‘40 new hospitals’ programme. HSJ revealed that almost 50 capital projects from mental health trusts attempted to win one of the final places on the “new hospitals programme”, but all were taken by new acute schemes. Some of the trusts that submitted unsuccessful bids are using buildings which are more than 100 years old and were constructed without modern care practices in mind. Many of the bids raised safety concerns about the current estates. Joe Rafferty, chief executive of Mersey Care Foundation Trust, told HSJ: “If there’s been a priority order, mental health has been at the back of the queue. “It’s almost a sort of institutionalised discrimination in a way… there is a risk that the system itself is stigmatised or discriminated against mental health patients. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 31 May 2023
  14. News Article
    Multiple trusts have expressed disappointment at being overlooked in the government’s latest announcement on the ‘40 new hospitals’ programme. In 2021, ministers expanded the new hospitals programme by inviting bids for another eight projects to be funded nationally. However, last week they confirmed that just five new bids – all acute hospitals with unsafe roof plank structures – had been accepted. Multiple mental health trusts have also expressed frustration, after just one new mental health scheme has been included in the list of 40 “new” hospitals, although the government is counting three which were already in progress outside the programme. Joe Rafferty, chief executive of Mersey Care, has compared a lack of investment into mental health estate to “institutionalised discrimination”. Bradford District Care said it was “very disappointing” to find out its bid to replace “wholly unsuitable” wards designed in the 1950s had not been accepted, adding: “Still no parity for mental health in the total NHP funding allocation so far.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 31 May 2023
  15. News Article
    The decision last week by the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, that in future his officers will attend emergency calls related to mental health only where a threat to life is feared, was both a wake-up call and a threat. His letter, and deadline of 31 August, have raised the stakes in negotiations with health bosses. The danger is that his combative approach will undermine attempts to find a solution to a problem that no one denies. In Humberside, a scheme called Right Care, Right Person resulted in 1,100 police officer hours a month being clawed back as health practitioners took over tasks that were previously done by them. The scheme attracted plaudits from the police inspectorate. This is the example that Sir Mark aims to follow as part of his plan to put his discredited force back on its feet. This is a sound idea. Humberside police has been judged the best force in the country, and successful innovations in public service should be copied. But the Met is a special case. At almost 20 times the size of Humberside’s service, with 43,000 officers, it is a huge organisation with responsibility for policing a growing city of almost 9 million people. Its relationships with local health and care services are far more complicated than in a smaller area. In London, there are five integrated care systems (partnership organisations that plan and deliver care). Given how overstretched these services already are, it is alarming to learn of the capital’s police chief announcing a unilateral withdrawal. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 May 2023
  16. News Article
    The Met Police's plan to stop attending emergency mental health incidents is "potentially alarming", a former inspector of constabulary has said. From September, officers will only attend mental health 999 calls where there is an "immediate threat to life". The Met argues the move will free up officers after a significant rise in the number of mental health incidents being dealt with by the force in the past five years. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley wrote to health and social care services in Greater London to inform them of the plan last week. In the letter, which has been seen by the BBC, Sir Mark said it takes almost 23 hours on average from the point at which someone is detained under the Mental Health Act until they are handed into medical care. He writes that his officers are spending more than 10,000 hours a month on "what is principally a health matter", adding that police and other social services are "collectively failing patients" by not ensuring they receive appropriate help, as well as failing Londoners more generally because of the effect on police resources. However Zoe Billingham, who is now chair of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS mental health trust after 12 years as Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue, warned mental health services are "creaking" and "in some places are so subdued with demand they are not able to meet the requirements of people who need it most". Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she warned there is "simply no other agency to call" other than the police for people in crisis, adding: "There isn't another agency to step in and fill the vacuum." Read full story Source: BBC News, 29 May 2023
  17. News Article
    A 14-year-old girl who should have been under constant supervision at a mental health hospital died after a member of staff on his first shift left her unattended, an inquest has heard. Ruth Szymankiewicz died at Taplow Manor Hospital in Maidenhead on 12 February 2022 after a care worker responsible for her one-to-one supervision “sporadically” left his post, the hearing was told. It also emerged at the hearing that the care worker, who is now abroad, was allegedly using a fake name. Detectives are investigating him as part of a fraud investigation although he has not yet been interviewed by police. After Ruth’s death, the Care Quality Commission launched a criminal investigation. In an update to the coroner, it said that the investigation was looking at whether the provider had “brought about avoidable harm or exposure to risk” in relation to the young girl’s death. Read full story Source: The Independent, 26 May 2023
  18. News Article
    A safety investigation has warned that young people with complex mental health needs are being put at significant risk, by being placed on general children's wards in England. The findings come from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB). BBC News recently highlighted the plight of a 16-year-old autistic girl, who spent several months in a children's ward. Other families have since contacted the BBC describing similar situations. The majority had faced similar difficulties getting appropriate support. HSIB says that paediatric wards are designed to care for patients who only have physical health needs and not for those with mental health needs. It describes the situation in 18 hospitals it visited as "challenging", and 13 were described as "not safe" for children who were suicidal or at risk of harming themselves to be on their paediatric wards. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 May 2023
  19. News Article
    Some mental health patients in England are still having to travel more than 300 miles for hospital treatment two years after the government pledged to end the “completely unacceptable” practice. The number of patients in crisis forced to move potentially hundreds of miles for NHS help is rising again after falling during the pandemic, separating them from family and support networks and potentially delaying their recuperation. According to official data seen by the Observer, 420 so-called “out of area” treatments started in February because no local beds were available – up from 240 in February last year. The most recent NHS England records show there are 720 out of area placements deemed “inappropriate”, risking the patient’s recovery. Dr Mayura Deshpande, an associate registrar for policy at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said targets for eliminating the practice had been “widely missed” and called for an urgent plan for the proper funding of mental health services. “It’s completely unacceptable that some mental health patients are having to travel hundreds of miles for care at a time when they are at their most vulnerable,” she said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 May 2023
  20. News Article
    NHS England is ‘sorry’ for backing a mental healthcare model which it now admits has caused hurt to patients, according to a leaked draft policy document. The serenity integrated mentoring model was launched in 2013 in the Isle of Wight and Hampshire. It quickly became viewed by mental health trusts as an “innovative approach” to helping support frequent users of the emergency services. A core element of the scheme involves placing a local community police officer within the healthcare team charged with supporting those patients. In 2021, the pressure group StopSIM raised concerns about the model, which included a belief that police involvement was potentially coercive, criminalised mental health crises, and could result in withholding healthcare from people, which would breach human rights legislation. The group also argued the SIM programme had not been robustly and clinically evaluated. As a result, NHSE committed to co-producing policy guidance on SIM with StopSIM. The draft document states: “NHS England did not apply sufficient scrutiny to the decision [to endorse SIM] and involve the voice of lived experience sufficiently. This compromised the safety and quality of care for service users and has caused hurt to patients. For this, NHS England is sorry.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 19 May 2023 Further reading on the hub: The High Intensity Network (HIN) approach and SIM model for mental health care and 'high intensity users' – what are your views?
  21. News Article
    Staff were suspended by their trust after they were found to have been sleeping in a patient’s bed, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report has revealed. The regulator inspected acute wards for adults and psychiatric intensive care units at Black Country Healthcare Foundation Trust in February, after safeguarding concerns were raised. As HSJ revealed earlier this year, inspectors investigated a series of incidents, while a referral was also made to the police. As well as reports of staff using a mental health inpatient’s bed, there were complaints involving alleged inappropriate sexual behaviour and a governance breach. The concerns were said to relate to Hallam Street hospital in West Bromwich and Penn Hospital in Wolverhampton. The CQC inspection report said it inspected the service following allegations that “abuse had occurred” and a “multi-agency safeguarding meeting was convened to discuss the investigations of these”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 18 May 2023
  22. News Article
    More than 26,000 adults with severe mental illness die prematurely each year from preventable physical illnesses, analysis by the Royal College of Psychiatrists suggests. New data from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities shows 120,273 adults in England with severe mental illness, including psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia, died before the age of 75 between 2018 and 2020. Of these, the College estimates 80,182 deaths (two in three) were potentially preventable, which is an average of 26,727 people each year. Preventable deaths include deaths from diseases like cancer and heart disease which could have been prevented with earlier detection and treatment or lifestyle changes. While adults with severe mental illness are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviours like smoking and drinking alcohol excessively, they are also less likely to access screening and treatment for a range of reasons including stigma associated with having a mental illness. While cancer is the leading cause of premature death among those with a severe mental illness, it also significantly increases the risk of dying before the age of 75 across a range of physical health conditions. Adults with severe mental illness are on average: 6.6 times more likely to die prematurely from respiratory disease 6.5 times more likely to die prematurely from liver disease 4.1 times more likely to die prematurely from cardiovascular disease 2.3 times more likely to die prematurely from cancer. Read full story Source: Royal College of Psychiatrists, 17 May 2023
  23. News Article
    UK ministers must set out how to recruit and retain thousands more mental health nurses to plug the profession’s biggest staff shortage, healthcare leaders are warning. Mental health nurses account for nearly a third of all nursing vacancies across England, resulting in overstretched services that are struggling to deliver timely care, according to research carried out by the NHS Confederation’s mental health network. Sean Duggan, the network’s chief executive, said: “Mental health leaders and their teams are pulling out all the stops in what are very constrained circumstances, but they cannot be expected to solve this staffing crisis alone. “The knock-on effect means that the mental health crisis the nation is facing will in turn become a crisis for the whole healthcare system and the country. This relentless pressure on mental health staff cannot be allowed to continue with the ultimate impact being on the patients who most need that care.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 May 2023
  24. News Article
    Nine online talking-therapy treatments for anxiety or depression have been given the green light to be used by the NHS in England. They offer faster access to help but less time with a therapist, which may not suit everyone, the health body recommending them said. There is huge demand for face-to-face services, with people waiting several weeks to see a therapist. The new digital therapies, delivered via a website or an app using cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), provide an alternative way of accessing support, which may be more convenient for some, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says. They could also free up resources and help reduce the wait for care. However, psychiatrists said digital therapies were not a long-term solution. Mental-health charity Sane said they were no substitute for a one-to-one relationship and could leave people feeling even more isolated than before. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 May 2023
  25. News Article
    An autistic girl aged 16 spent nearly seven months in a busy general hospital due to a lack of suitable children's mental health services in England. The teenager, called Molly, spent about 200 days living in a side-room of a children's ward at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth. It is not a mental health unit. Experts say a general hospital was not the right place for her, but she had nowhere else to go because of a lack of help in the community. Agency mental health nurses were brought in because she needed constant, three-to-one observations to keep her safe. Her family says security guards were also often stationed outside her room. Like many autistic people, Molly finds dealing with noise difficult. The clamour of the hospital overloaded her senses and her behaviour sometimes became challenging. She was restrained numerous times. A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) said it was sorry Molly "did not receive care in an environment better suited to her needs", adding: "Molly's safety has always been our priority." Campaigners describe the shortage of appropriate support for people with autism as a human rights crisis. Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 May 2023
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