Congratulations are in order for Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, who wrote The Discomfort of Evening– winning The 2020 International Booker Prize. The book was written in Dutch and translated by Michele Hutchison. The £50,000 prize will be split equally between them, giving both the author and translator equal recognition.
To find out more about the winning book click here.
Insomnia is the UK’s most common health complaint, and if left untreated can cause more serious mental health problems. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guidelines recommend Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia. The issue is that a rise in cases leads to longer waiting lists, or patients self medicating.
However digital CBT may be the answer. One intervention – Sleepio – provides digital CBT for insomnia from the click of a button. Sleepio is highly evidence-based and is backed by 12 Randomised Controlled Trials.
In a recent project, results were promising, showing high levels of engagement with patients, a high recovery rate and improvements in mental health and wellbeing, along with a reduced cost to the NHS.
To find out more and read their case study click here.
NHS staff can also access the resource for free during the pandemic. Sign up here.
Read this week’s bulletins on Depression and Community Health
Recommendations for continued care and support of people who are clinically extremely vulnerable
Royal College of Physicians (RCP); 2020.
(Statement from the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Royal College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, National Voices and specialist societies highlighting the challenges faced by both doctors and patients in identifying and reducing the risks associated with COVID-19 for the most clinically vulnerable people.)
Expanding the primary care workforce in 2020/21 .
NHS England & NHS Improvement; 2020.
(Actions for CCGs, PCNs and STPs resulting from People Plan and Third phase of NHS response to covid-19.)
Reintroduction of NHS continuing healthcare.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2020.
(Sets out how clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will restart NHS continuing healthcare (CHC) assessment processes from 1 September 2020.Published 21 August 2020.)
Virtual training for midwives during a pandemic.
Abramson P. British Journal of Midwifery 2020;28(8):502–503.
(When a baby dies, it is a tragedy at any time but during the COVID-19 pandemic, bereaved families and the professionals supporting them have been faced with additional and often distressing challenges. Restrictions have made access to hospitals difficult for partners and other family members, while support services that would normally be provided for bereaved parents have been unavailable or severely limited.)
Ketamine as a mental health treatment: Are acute psychoactive effects associated with outcomes? A systematic review.
Grabski M. Behavioural Brain Research 2020;392:112629.
(The databases Medline, Embase and PsycInfo were searched. The studies reviewed displayed great variability in methodology and quality of reporting. The most commonly assessed effect was dissociation, measured by the CADSS. Our results suggest that the CADSS total is not consistently associated with antidepressant outcomes. Apart from this, the current literature is too limited to draw definite conclusions on an association between acute psychoactive effects and mental health outcomes.)
Read this week’s bulletin on Learning Disabilities here
With face masks becoming compulsory throughout the pandemic, most of us will be wearing face masks for extended periods of time. While they help to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, there has also been a rise of reports of dry, uncomfortable eyes, otherwise known as mask-associated dry eye (MADE).
MADE is caused by an ongoing imbalance in the tear film resulting in eyes feeling sore, dry and irritated, looking red, watering eyes or lead to dry eye disease. Face masks cause repeated evaporation, as the exhaled air will travel upwards to our eyes.
To prevent this from happening:
Masks will be here for the foreseeable future therefore we need to remain alert and promote good mask wear if we are to overcome this pandemic. To find out more or have your say click here.
With many children going back to school, there may be mixed emotions and feelings from different family members. The Mental Health Foundation have some practical advice to make the transition from home to school as smooth as possible. Their top tips include:
For more details or resources to use at home click here.
This guidance supports Integrated Care Systems and Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships, Primary Care Networks, training hubs and other local partners to understand and continue delivery of the General Practice Fellowship programme, supporting newly-qualified GPs and nurses working in primary care.
Fever came
And with it a sledgehammer
To my life
My life that still had
Time to run
But now there is no time to run
Instead I lie here alone,
Surrounded by an army
Of hospital staff who see me
Only through glass windows
Or the shield of PPE
Three thousand people
They say work here
But they won’t see me
Until I run once more
In the news
No longer alone,
Surrounded by other
Elderly with underlying conditions
A poem written by Shane O’Hanlon, who is a geriatrician in Dublin, Ireland.
He has a strong interest in the humanities in healthcare, and previously taught humanities at the Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick. He now lectures on art in medicine and curates a humanities library for students and staff at University College Dublin.
Mental health services have faced unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19. They quickly and effectively moved to different ways of working to protect service users and staff. As we move to the next phase of the pandemic, we expect demand for mental health support to increase and to remain high for some time. This will have serious implications on resourcing and staff wellbeing.
This report from the NHS Reset campaign considers what mental health services need to prepare for, for the expected surge in demand. It also highlights how the health and care system can ‘reset’ the way care and support are planned and delivered in aftermath of COVID-19.
To find out more about the campaign click here.
