Health Management and Policy Alert

Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2018/19

Care Quality Commission - 

The Mental Health Act 1983 is the legal framework that provides authority to detain and treat people who have a mental illness and need protection for their own health or safety, or the safety of other people. The latest monitoring report finds there has been an improvement in the number of people beinggiven information about their rights and being offered the support of an independent mental health advocate (IMHA). However, services need to do more to ensure that they are complying with their human rights duties.

• Report
• Press release

Building resilience: how local partnerships are supporting children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing

Local Government Association - 

Too many children and young people nationally do not receive the support they need to improve their mental health and wellbeing. The purpose of this research, commissioned from Isos Partnership, is to explore some of the factors which are contributing to this nationally challenging context, and to develop an evidence base for how local government and its partners can work most effectively together to deliver a coherent and joined-up offer of support for children and young people’s mental health.

• Report
• Press release

The state of children’s mental health services

Children's Commissioner - 
The report looks at the provision of Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services for the hundreds of thousands of children who need help, support and treatment. It also looks ahead to assess whether current Government plans go far enough to meet demand. It finds that, while the NHS has made tangible progress in the provision of mental health services for children, the current system still doesn't meet the needs of all of the estimated 12.8 per cent of children in England with mental health problems – or the many more children who fall just below the threshold for clinical diagnosis.

• Report
• Children's Commissioner - press release

Determinants of mental health

Centre for Mental Health - 

This first briefing from the Centre’s Commission for Equality in Mental Health finds that mental health inequalities are closely linked to wider injustices in society. Inequalities in wealth, power and voice are linked to poorer mental health. Exclusion, discrimination, violence and insecurity all increase our risk of poor mental health and explain why some groups of people face markedly higher rates of mental ill health than others. The briefing explores actions that can be taken, from communities and local services to national policies, to reduce mental health inequalities.

• Briefing
• Press release

Separation of children in young offender institutions

HM Inspectorate of Prisons - 

This thematic report on separation covers the variety of ways in which children aged 15-18 in young offender institutions are unable to mix with their peers or attend activities in the normal way. Many children separated from their peers are effectively held in harmful solitary confinement, with little human contact and in conditions which risk damaging their mental health.

• Report
• Press release

Mental health funding and investment: a digest of issues

NHS Providers - 

This briefing looks at the financial and investment challenges facing mental health providers. It warns that the provision of mental health services is not being prioritised across the whole of the NHS. This is despite the significant progress that has been made by the sector to innovate and transform services, and improve people’s access to care and the quality of care they receive.

• Briefing
• Press release

 

Delivering the dementia moonshot: a plan to find life-changing treatments

Alzheimer's Research UK - 
This report calls on government to invest in six priority research areas, which will help to deliver a life-changing treatment for dementia by doubling research funding and speeding up trials for new treatments.

• Report
• Alzheimer's Research UK - press release

Beyond parity of esteem: achieving parity of resource, access and outcome for mental health in England

British Medical Association - 

Mental health services remain a long way behind most physical health services in terms of their resourcing, patient ability to access care and overall patient outcomes. This report outlines findings about the state of mental health in England and recommendations for improvements. Key findings: under a third of children with mental health problems in England are able to access the care they need; those with a severe mental illness in England on average die 15 to 20 years earlier than the general population; and suicide is the leading cause of death among young people in the UK aged 20-34 years, and for men in the UK aged under 50.

• Report
• More detail

Access to child and adolescent mental health services in 2019

Education Policy Institute -
This report examines access to specialist services, waiting times for treatment, and provision for the most vulnerable children in England.
The research is based on new data obtained using freedom of information requests to mental health providers and local authorities over the course of a year. It looks at the proportion of referrals to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) that are rejected, and waiting times to assessment and treatment for accepted referrals. It also describes mental health provision for certain groups of vulnerable young people: those with conduct disorder or difficulties, in contact with the social care system, and those transitioning from CAMHS to adult mental health services.

• Report
• Education Policy Institute - press release

Measuring progress: commitments to support and expand the mental health workforce in England

British Medical Association -
This report finds that recent commitments to support and expand the mental health workforce have fallen short of their goals. To assess progress against these commitments and identify where further action is required, the report analyses workforce data and a survey of health care professionals working in the sector.

• Report
• British Medical Association - publications