Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Mental health'.
Found 1,161 results
-
Content ArticleIn 2011, the government acknowledged a large treatment gap for people with mental health conditions and sought to establish ‘parity of esteem’ between mental and physical health services. From 2016, the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England made specific commitments to improve and expand NHS-funded mental health services. NHSE, working with the Department and other national health bodies, set up and led a national improvement programme to deliver these commitments. This report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee assesses progress made in delivering these commitments. The report acknowledges that NHS England has made progress in improving and expanding mental health services, but says this was "from a low base."
-
Content Article
Video: Living with schizophrenia (6 July 2023)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Mental health
In this video, Chris tells his story of how he dealt with a traumatic childhood and subsequent diagnosis of schizophrenia. He talks about the medication and therapy that have helped him. Warning: The film does contain references to distressing themes. -
Content ArticleThis video made by Health Education England and the Restraint Reduction Network looks at the impact of inappropriately used restraint practices in mental health and learning disability services. Three people with lived experience of restraint discuss the impact it has had on their lives and why they are campaigning for change.
-
Content ArticleA study from Jackson et al. looked at how the prevalence of psychological distress in the adult population of England has changed since 2020. The study found that the proportion reporting any psychological distress was similar in December 2022 to that in April 2020 (an extremely difficult and uncertain moment of the COVID-19 pandemic), but the proportion reporting severe distress was 46% higher. These findings provide evidence of a growing mental health crisis in England and underscore an urgent need to address its cause and to adequately fund mental health services.
-
Content ArticleFounded by psychotherapist Rebecca Howard, ShinyMind's story has been a journey of creating an evidence-based mental health and wellbeing resource that people can trust to help them think well, feel well and be well.Rebecca believes everyone has the right to good mental health and access to support whenever they need it – and so ShinyMind’s journey began, to empower people, eradicate stigma and help as many people as we can shine their brightest.
-
Content ArticleThis is the transcript of an oral statement to the House of Commons by Steve Barclay MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on improving safety in mental health in-patient services across England.
-
Content ArticleAn NHS-Led Provider Collaborative is a group of providers of specialised mental health, learning disability and autism services who have agreed to work together to improve the care pathway for their local population. They will do this by taking responsibility for the budget and pathway for their given population. The Collaborative will be led by an NHS Provider who remains accountable to NHS England and NHS Improvement for the commissioning of high-quality, specialised services. These Collaboratives aim to ensure that people with specialist mental health, learning disability and autism needs experience high quality, specialist care, as close to home as appropriately possible. They seek to enable specialist care to be provided in the community to prevent people being in hospital if they don’t need to be, and to enable people to leave hospital when they are ready. This webpage explains the role of NHS-Led Provider Collaboratives and includes case studies that demonstrate how they are helping to transform specialised mental health services.
-
Content ArticleThis report published by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) looked to identify and explore remediable factors in the clinical and organisation of the physical healthcare provided to adult patients admitted to a mental health inpatient setting. The report suggests that a physical healthcare plan should be developed when patients are admitted to a mental health inpatient setting. Other key messages aimed at improving care include calls to: formalise clinical networks/pathways between mental health and physical health care; involve patients and their carers in their physical health care, and use admission as an opportunity to assess and involve patients in their general health, and include mental health and physical health conditions on electronic patient records.
-
Content Article
Blog - introducing No Wrong Door (22 September 2021)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Mental health
This blog describes No Wrong Door (NWD), an adult community mental health transformation programme being rolled out across Hampshire, Southampton, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth. The NWD model takes a partnership approach and recognises that mental health is affected by quality of housing, employment, family and personal contacts, leisure and cultural activities, technological solutions and other community resources such as green spaces. Mental health services will work together with the community to ensure that care can be provided locally, and that support can be received in several settings for multiple aspects of a person’s life. -
Content ArticleThe Northern Ireland Department of Health's Mental Health Strategy Delivery Plan for 2022/23 sets out the prioritised workstreams under the 2021-31 Mental Health Strategy, which was published in June 2021, alongside a ten-year Funding Plan. It outlines governance and monitoring arrangements, actions currently in progress and actions that will be delivered at a later date. The Delivery Plan is published alongside Mental Health Strategy Co-Production/Design Principles, designed to give structure and meaning to the Department’s desire to ensure continued co-production throughout the implementation of the ten-year Strategy.
-
Content ArticleThis blog by the charity Mental Health UK looks at an innovative project that aims to transform the way care and support are delivered to people living with severe mental illness in Grimsby and Bridgend. It aims to meet people’s mental health needs by providing tailored support, signposting them to specialist services to improve their quality of life, prevent the need for emergency crisis care and reduce pressure on acute medical services. The project is being run in conjunction with healthcare company Johnson & Johnson UK, with the support of the local NHS. The project involves Community Mental Health Navigators supporting the non-medical needs of people living with severe mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. They provide support with aspects of people’s lives which can drive poor mental health, such as housing, money problems, employment, physical wellbeing and lack of social connections.
-
Content Article
Psychological Professions Network (PPN)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Mental health
The Psychological Professions Network is a membership network commissioned by Health Education England for all psychological professionals and other stakeholders in NHS commissioned psychological healthcare, whether you work with children, adults or another population, whether you are in training or qualified, a manager, commissioner, educator, or an expert by experience. -
Content ArticleBipolar UK's 'Bipolar Minds Matter' report calls for an immediate restructure of the healthcare system that is failing millions affected by bipolar, and puts forward the case for developing a dedicated care pathway so that people with bipolar can have access to specialist treatment and continuity of support over a lifetime.
-
Content ArticleThe Department for Health and Social Care has launched an investigation into allegations made by 22 former patients of mental health units run by private firm The Huntercombe Group. The group ran at least six children’s mental health hospitals between 2012 and 2022. In this Independent article, young women who were subject to humiliating and sometimes abusive treatment talk about their time as inpatients. Some of the experiences they recount are harrowing: "I would get awoken by staff members restraining me out of bed and dragging me down to the de-escalation room to force-feed me." "Patients were left naked in their rooms under anti-ligature blankets because they wouldn’t buy anti-ligature clothing." "I distinctly remember someone saying ‘if you hit me again, I’ll hit you back ten times harder because there are no cameras in here and you can’t cry to [name of nurse] about it’."
-
Content ArticleThis Care Quality Commission (CQC) survey looks at the experiences of people who use community mental health services. The 2022 community mental health survey received feedback from 13,418 people. Those aged 18 and over were eligible to take part if they were receiving specialist care or treatment for a mental health condition between 1 September 2021 and 30 November 2021.
-
Content ArticleThis resource from the Mental Health Foundation provides tips to help you protect your mental health, each one backed up by evidence from research. The leaflet gives further information on the following tips: Get closer to nature Learn to understand and manage your feelings To to someone you trust for support Be aware of using drugs and/or alcohol to cope with difficult feelings Try to make the most of your money and get help with problem debts Get more from your sleep Be kind and help create a better world Keep moving Eat healthy food Be curious and open-minded to new experiences Plan things to look forward to
-
Content ArticleMany people will experience mental health problems in their lives. Around one in six adults in England have a common mental health disorder, and around half of mental health problems start by the age of 14. This report from the National Audit Office focuses on the implementation of NHS commitments as set out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, Stepping forward to 2020/21: The mental health workforce plan for England and the the NHS Long Term Plan. It examines whether the government has achieved value for money in its efforts to date to expand and improve NHS-funded mental health services by evaluating whether DHSC, NHSE and other national bodies: have a clear understanding of how much their work to date has reduced the gap between mental and physical health services met ambitions to increase access, capacity, workforce and funding for mental health services are well placed to overcome the risks and challenges, including the impact from COVID-19, to achieving future ambitions.
-
Content ArticleThis article in The Lancet aimed to review published work about the efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) with simulated ECT, ECT versus pharmacotherapy and different forms of ECT for patients with depressive illness. The authors designed a systematic overview and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies. They concluded that: ECT is an effective short-term treatment for depression, and is probably more effective than drug therapy. bilateral ECT is moderately more effective than unilateral ECT. high dose ECT is more effective than low dose.
-
Content ArticleThis webpage by mental health charity Mind provides information on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). It explains when ECT might be used and what happens during the treatment, as well as describing the potential short- and long-term side effects of ECT, including memory loss.
-
Content ArticleIn this article, Rachel Star Withers shares her account of receiving electroconvulsive therapy to treat her severe depression and schizophrenia while in her final year at college. She describes how the treatment robbed her of her memory, reading and writing abilities, but saved her life. Without ECT, Rachel believe she would have committed suicide. She talks about the need to educate people about the realities of ECT and undo unhelpful 'horror-story' stereotypes.
-
Content ArticleIn this blog for the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, Jane London shares her account of how electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has affected her life since early adulthood, resulting in severe memory loss and heart problems. Jane shares how her physical medical problems including appendicitis and a severe heart attack were put down to depression, and how she was nearly forced to have ECT against her will in England in 1966. When her abusive marriage ended in 1968 and Jane returned to Australia her mother insisted she have ECT, despite her depression being temporary and related to her marriage ending. After 14 treatments, Jane left the treatment facility and received talking therapy to help her recover. Jane talks about the dramatic adverse effect ECT has had on the rest of her adult life.
-
Content ArticleIn this article for The Guardian, psychiatrist Rebecca Thomas talks about the benefits and problems related to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments, which are used in cases of severe depression. Having had 70 individual ECT treatments for depression herself, Rebecca highlights that although the therapy can be very effective, doctors need to acknowledge the issues it can cause for patients. She talks about the memory issues ECT can cause, and highlights that as a therapy it has been stigmatised, which spreads fear about a treatment that can be necessary and life-saving. Concluding that decisions around ECT therapy should be clinical and not moral, she urges doctors not to be complacent about the risks, and patients to be careful about stigmatising an effective treatment.
-
Content Article
Ministerial Statement: Mental Health Update (23 January 2023)
Mark Hughes posted an article in Mental health
This is a written statement to the House of Commons by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy), Maria Caulfield MP, on behalf of the UK Government. In this she provides an update on how £150 million of capital investment in NHS mental health urgent and emergency care infrastructure is being used and announces the commencement of a rapid review into patient safety in mental health inpatient settings in England. -
Content ArticleThis blog published by the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) tells the story of Mark, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia 15 years ago, aged 15. It describes the issues he and his mother faced in getting him the care he needed, including being treated inappropriately and without dignity during emergency department visits, problems accessing ongoing community support and a reluctance to assist him with reducing his medication dosage. It also highlights how his family were not included in care plans and treatment decisions, and their needs as carers were rarely considered.
-
Content ArticlePoor mental health is an important and increasingly prevalent issue facing farmers and the farming industry. This article in the journal Sociologia Ruralis seeks to understand the factors that influence the adaptability of support systems for farmers facing mental health issues, especially at a time of crisis. The authors undertook a literature review as well as conducting interviews with 22 mental health support providers and an online survey of people working within support systems and farmers themselves. The study found that support-giving organisations adapted during the pandemic using a range of interventions, but that implementation was affected by organisational and operational challenges such as limited digital training, funding shortfalls, staff trauma, lack of capacity, the rural digital divide, tension between providers and stigma. The authors discuss how landscapes of support for farming mental health can be made more sustainable to deal with future shocks.
