Health Management and Policy Alert

The good childhood report 2021

Children's Society - 

This report shows the latest trends in children's well-being. The research seeks to understand how young people feel about different aspects of their lives. This year school, friendships and appearance continue to cause the greatest dissatisfaction in adolescence.

• Report

SHARE: consent, confidentiality and information sharing in mental healthcare and suicide prevention

Department of Health and Social Care -
The SHARE resource has been developed by the Zero Suicide Alliance. It is designed to support health and social care staff on: how to use the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) consensus statement for information sharing and suicide prevention; and how to engage with patients when discussing confidentiality and consent to share information. The DHSC consensus statement sets out how and when clinicians should share information about patients, within the legal framework, where this may help prevent suicide.

• Guidance
• Department of Health consensus statement
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Reaching the tipping point: children and young people's mental health

NHS Confederation -
According to this report, many children and young people will be left without vital mental health support unless the Government goes further to invest fully in services where they are most needed. It lists the Covid-19 pandemic as a factor as it brought with it uncertainty and anxiety caused by the lockdowns, school closures, isolation from friends and peers, bereavement and loss, and extra stresses and pressures on families.

• Report
• NHS Confederation - news

Untapped?: understanding the mental health clinical support workforce

Nuffield Trust -
This report explores the roles, responsibilities and diversity of mental health clinical support staff. It aims to draw out the number and distribution of this workforce and issues around recruitment, career progression and retention.

• Report
• Nuffield Trust - publications

A joint thematic inspection of community-based drug treatment and recovery work with people on probation

HM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) - 

Probation services across England and Wales supervise nearly 156,000 people in the community. HM Inspectorate of Probation estimates that almost 75,000 of these individuals have a drugs problem, yet fewer than 3,000 people were referred by probation services to specialist drug misuse treatment in 2019/2020. HMIP partnered with the Care Quality Commission to examine how probation services supervise this cohort and found probation services are responding poorly to drugs misuse and addiction cases.

• Report
• Press release

The impact of Covid-19 to date on older people’s mental and physical health: one year on

Age UK - 

This report finds that the impact of the pandemic on the health and wellbeing of some older people in early 2021 is so demonstrably severe that it raises big questions over whether they will be able to ‘bounce back’. The adverse effect may prove long lasting in many cases, or even irreversible, with big implications for the NHS and social care in the months and years to come

• Report
• Press release

Supporting mental healthcare in a maternity and neonatal setting: good practice guide and case studies

NHS England and NHS Improvement - 

This guide is for commissioners and staff involved in maternity and neonatal care. It describes the underpinning principles of and good practice for supporting good mental health and psychological wellbeing in maternity and neonatal settings. It also considers the role of specialist maternal mental health services (MMHS) in supporting this function.

• Guide
• More detail

Coronavirus: the consequences for mental health

Mind -
This research with almost 12,000 people found that those with mental health problems report an increase in the severity of challenges they're facing now and concerns about the future. The authors call for services to be ready for the increase in severity of people's mental health problems, and to take into account the trauma that people have experienced over the last year and how this might affect the support they need.

• Report
• Mind - publications

The national strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026

Department of Health and Social Care -
This national strategy aims to improve the lives of autistic people and their families and carers in England. It builds on and replaces the preceding adult autism strategy, Think Autism, which was published in April 2014. It extends the scope of the strategy to children and young people for the first time.

• Strategy
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Reforming the Mental Health Act: government response to consultation

Department of Health and Social Care - 

The government hosted a public consultation from 13 January 2021 to 21 April 2021 on a set of proposals to reform the Mental Health Act. They received over 1,700 responses. This report is the government’s formal response to this consultation. Further details on the impact of costs and benefits can be found in an accompanying impact assessment.

• Government response
• More detail