Mental Health

Supporting the mental health of NHS staff

The role of NHS leaders in reducing mental health stigma and creating mentally healthy cultures

Source: The King’s Fund; Health Management and Policy Alert

This guide, funded by the British Medical Association and posted on the Mental Health at Work website, aims to provide practical advice, hints and tips to help NHS leaders and line managers to create mentally healthy cultures and support better mental health. It includes information about mental health stigmas, and how to break them down. It is the first of a series of resources aimed at NHS leaders, managers and champions.

For more resources to support mental health at work visit Mentalhealthatwork.org.uk

Psychiatric Nursing

Current Awareness Bulletin

The February bulletin on psychiatric nursing, produced by Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, is now available to view and download.

Psychiatric-Nursing-bulletin-February-2021 Download

For any issues accessing journal articles or Open Athens accounts please email: academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

Time to Talk Day

February 4th is Time to Talk Day, a campaign to change the way people think and act about mental health problems

A small conversation about mental health has the power to make a big difference. We know that the more conversations we have, the more myths we can bust and barriers we can break down, helping to end the isolation, shame and worthlessness that too many of us with mental health problems are made to feel.

Time to Talk Day is the day that we get the nation talking about mental health. This year’s event might look a little different, but at times like this open conversations about mental health are more important than ever. Your help is needed to start the conversation this Time to Talk Day – together we can end mental health stigma.

Click here for more information and to sign up for free resources to get people talking.

Mental Health Toolkit

A reading list to support the mental health of young people

House of Commons Library; 2020.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9100/
Research briefing: links to relevant reports, policies and research on supporting children and young people with mental health issues. It also includes links to sources of further information and advice.

Supporting the mental health of children and young people

Keep up to date with current awareness:

Children and young people’s mental health – policy, CAMHS services, funding and education.
House of Commons Library; 2020.
(Research briefing outlining children and young people’s mental health policy.)

Child and adolescent mental health during COVID-19
Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST); 2020.
(Charities and academics have expressed concerns that children’s mental health is disproportionately affected by the intervention measures used during the pandemic. Child and adolescent mental health may be compromised by factors such as strained family relationships, academic stress and reduced social contact with friends. Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) have been reduced during the pandemic. They are likely to be under strain to meet increased demand.)

Interventions to support children and young people who self-harm
Carried out by Frankie Marcelline from Brighton and Sussex on 3/11/2020
https://www.knowledgeshare.nhs.uk/index.php?PageID=literature_search_request_download&RequestID=25593
(This evidence search report looks for publications on interventions to support children and young people (age 4-18) who self-harm, including school-based preventative approaches.)

Library Bulletin

Physical Health and Mental Health Bulletin

The physical health and mental health bulletin December 2020, produced by Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, is now available to view and download.

Physical-health-and-mental-illness-bulletin-December-2020 Download

Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2019/20

The Mental Health Act in the Covid-19 pandemic

Source: King’s Fund Health Management and Policy Alert

Monitoring the Mental Health Act is the CQC’s annual report on the use of the Mental Health Act (MHA). It looks at how providers are caring for patients, and whether patients’ rights are being protected. This year’s annual report puts a specific focus on the impact that the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has had on patients detained under the MHA, and on the services that care for and treat them.

To read the report click here or to find out more information visit: https://www.cqc.org.uk/publications/major-report/monitoring-mental-health-act-201920-mental-health-act-coronavirus-covid-19?utm_source=The%20King%27s%20Fund%20newsletters%20%28main%20account%29&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12013209_NEWSL_HMP%202020-12-04&dm_i=21A8,75HG9,3COYDR,SYKPX,1

Mental health for all

Commission for equality in mental health

Source: King’s Fund- Health Management and Policy Alert

This final report of the Commission finds that mental health inequalities mirror wider economic and social inequalities. Wealth and power inequalities put at risk the mental health of people experiencing poverty, racial injustice and discrimination. This creates sharp social divisions, meaning that many groups of people face two or three times the risk of mental ill health. Yet the same groups of people find it harder to get help for their mental health, and in some cases also get poorer outcomes when they do. This report highlights, however, that effective action is possible. It sets out what a system designed for equality would look like, and how communities, local organisations, public services and national government can work together to generate change at scale.

Key contributors to mental health equality

For more information click here.

Mental Health

Current Awareness Updates

Advancing mental health equalities strategy.
NHS England; 2020.
[This strategy summarises the core actions that we all need to take to bridge the gaps for communities fairing worse than others in mental health services. It is also an important element of the overall NHS plans to accelerate action to address health inequalities in the next stage of responding to COVID-19.]

Children and young people’s mental health review: findings from a questionnaire to health and wellbeing boards on local actions.
Care Quality Commission (CQC); 2020.
[Follow up of a 2018 review looking at the quality of, and access to, mental health services for children and young people. It sets out the findings of a 2019 independent follow-up self-assessment questionnaire, to find out the extent to which health and wellbeing board areas in England had progressed with implementing the local recommendations made.]

Mental health rehabilitation inpatient services: 2019 update.
Care Quality Commission (CQC); 2020.
[Updated findings from 114 mental health rehabilitation inpatient providers about patients that were occupying a mental health bed at the time of the information request. Questions included number of beds, current number of patients and their distance from home, funding and number of locked wards.]

Assessment of mental health services in acute trusts.
Care Quality Commission (CQC); 2020.
[Findings from over 100 acute hospital inspections, how well the mental health care needs of patients were met and where trusts, and the wider system, need to improve.]

MeeTwo mental health app: case study.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; 2020.
[The app provides safe, fully-moderated peer support to 40,000 young people aged 11 to 25 across the UK. The free app enables users to anonymously share their feelings and help each other in a safe, moderated digital environment. Peer support has been shown to improve quality of life, wellbeing, self-esteem and social functioning, as well as reductions in hospital admission rates and use of hospital emergency services.]

Mental Health

Impact on children and young people in England

Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2020: Wave 1 follow up to the 2017 survey.
NHS Digital; 2020.
[This is the first in a series of follow up reports to the Mental Health and Young People Survey (MHCYP) 2017, exploring the mental health of children and young people in July 2020, during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and changes since 2017. Experiences of family life, education and services, and worries and anxieties during the COVID-19 pandemic are also examined.]

Peer support models for children and young people with mental health problems.
Centre for Mental Health; 2020.
[Centre for Mental Health was commissioned by Health Education England to explore the implications of expanding mental health peer support for specific groups of people. Peer support offers the potential for children and young people to develop the resilience needed to reduce mental health needs and to recognise their wellbeing needs at an early stage.]