Category: Mental Health

What could make a difference to the mental health of UK doctors?: A review of the research evidence –

Society of Occupational Medicine, October 2018
Report that finds the incidence of mental health problems among doctors is increasing alongside the growing demands and diminishing resources experienced in the healthcare sector. GPs, trainee and junior doctors appear to be particularly vulnerable, experiencing distress and burnout early in their career.  The stigma associated with disclosing mental health problems and ‘a failure to cope’ revealed in the report mean that many doctors are reluctant to seek help as they fear sanctions and even job loss.
Click here to view the full report.

Access to children and young people’s mental health services: 2018

Education Policy Institute, October 2018
Report from the the Education Policy Institute considering the  state of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in England.  It finds:

  • Referrals to child and adolescent mental health services have risen significantly in recent years.
  • Some areas have lost early intervention services supporting children and young people’s emotional and mental health and wellbeing, including those for children that receive statutory support.
  • Timely and high-quality specialist care will always be necessary, and more needs to be done to ensure it is in place across the country.
  • There needs to be a focus on taking demand out of the system.

Click here to view the full report.

Be the change: Ensuring an effective response to all in psychiatric emergency equal to medical care: Recommendations from the first international summit on urgent and emergency behavioural healthcare

NHS Clinical Commissioners, October 2018
Behavioural health crisis is a global problem. Behavioural health is an inclusive term that covers the emotions, behaviours and biology relating to a person’s mental well-being, their ability to function in everyday life and their concept of self. It includes mental health, substance misuse and the physical consequences that result.  It calls for an integrated, systematic approach to behavioural health crisis care at the national level – this is seen as the only way to end the current fragmentation of care and makes 10 recommendations.
Click here to view the full report.

Sexual safety on mental health wards

Care Quality Commission, September 2018
Care Quality Commission report based on an analysis of nearly 60,000 reports that found 1,120 sexual incidents involving patients, staff, visitors and others described in 919 reports – some of which included multiple incidents. More than a third of the incidents (457) could be categorised as sexual assault or sexual harassment of patients or staff.  Providers and people who use services told the CQC:

  1. People who use services do not always feel that they are kept safe from unwanted sexual behaviour
  2. Clinical leaders of mental health services do not always know what is good practice in promoting the sexual safety of people using the service and of their staff
  3. Many staff do not have the skills to promote sexual safety or to respond appropriately to incidents
  4. The ward environment does not always promote the sexual safety of people using the service
  5. Staff may under-report incidents and reports may not reflect the true impact on the person who is affected
  6. Joint-working with other agencies such as the police does not always work well in practice

Click here to view the full report.

Evaluation of the Advocacy in Wirral’s Independent Mental Health Act and Psychiatric Liaison Advocacy Services

Applied Health and Wellbeing Partnership, September 2018
Advocacy in Wirral (AiW) is a peer-led service which provides support, information and representation to people experiencing mental ill-health. AiW work across a range of areas, including community advocacy, welfare benefits, primary care advocacy, drug and alcohol advocacy, Independent Mental Capacity Act advocacy, and hospital advocacy. Hospital advocates provide advice and practical support regarding a range of issues, including welfare benefits, housing, employment, debts and legal issues. Hospital advocates can also attend ward rounds, accompany clients to meetings, and represent clients at local and regional meetings, helping to promote the needs of their client and bring about changes to the support and care of the client. Two elements of the AiW hospital advocacy service, Independent Mental Health Act (IMHA) advocacy and Psychiatric Liaison (PL) advocacy, have been evaluated to explore effectiveness and identity impacts and outcomes.
Click here to view the full report.

Coping through Football: evaluation report 2018

Centre for Mental Health, September 2018
Does the ‘Coping Through Football’ programme deliver benefits to the physical and mental health of people living with mental health difficulties? Coping Through Football was founded by London Playing Fields Foundation, who started the initiative in 2005 in collaboration with North East London Foundation Trust and Leyton Orient Trust. It was conceived in response to the fact that the biggest cause of death of 20-49 year old men was suicide and that given that community mental health services were stretched to the limit, there was an over reliance on medication as a treatment. The report finds that for two out of three participants (39% of whom have schizophrenia) there was a positive change in lifestyle choices around healthy eating and smoking. 54% of participants went on to volunteering, education and training or employment. The report also records that there was a 12% reduction in the number of overnight hospital stays for those who were involved in the project. The report that the Coping Through Football programme is a low-cost intervention in the mental health sector. The cost of one person attending the programme every week for a year was £1,700, which is equivalent to four days in a mental health inpatient bed, or five A&E attendances. Our analysis also highlighted that “the annual cost of Coping Through Football for one year is the equivalent of the costs of schizophrenia to society for just over one person.
Click here to view the report.