Health Management and Policy Alert

Focused review of suicides among armed forces personnel

Defence Safety Authority - 

This focused review  of suicides in service personnel (SP) aims to identify additional measures for preventing suicide. This report is based on evidence drawn from a review of defence publications, an examination of published statistics relating to suicide, a systematic review of the academic literature, interviews with 53 key stakeholders across defence, a national and international benchmarking exercise and an original academic study of self-harm in the UK.

 

• Report
• More detail

Fair funding for mental health: putting parity into practice

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) - 
The NHS is currently in the process of authoring a long-term plan that will set out what it wants to achieve with additional funding and how this funding will be allocated. This report argues that it is crucial that this plan raises our ambitions on mental health, what parity of esteem looks like and how much it will cost to get there.

• Report
• Summary

Progress of the 'Five Year Forward View for Mental Health': on the road to parity

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health -
This report is the product of an in depth inquiry into the progress of the government's mental health strategy, the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. The findings can be split into three main themes: investing in core services for adults severely affected by mental illness; increasing the mental health workforce; and better oversight and collective responsibility for mental health.

• Report
• All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health - publications

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

Society of Occupational Medicine - 

This report found that 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.

• Report
• Press release

Improving children and young people’s mental health services

National Audit Office - 

This report examines whether the government is on track to meet its ambitions for children and young people’s services, taking the policy document, Future in Mind as the starting point. It focuses on how the government decided to implement Future in Mind; whether it is on track to deliver improved mental health services to young people; and accountability for spending and outcomes.

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

Education Policy Institute - 

This report examines access to specialist services, waiting times for treatment, and provision for those children that are not able to receive treatment. The report uses Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to providers of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and local authorities in England.

Report

More detail

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 -
According to this report, care for people in mental health crisis does not adequately address the needs of the community it is intended to serve. It outlines ten recommendations that if fulfilled would make urgent and emergency psychiatric health care ‘minimally adequate’, and calls on governmental agencies, policy makers and health and social services to take radical action to address inequalities and improve mental health crisis care.

• Report
• NHS Clinical Commissioners - news

Severe mental illness (SMI) and physical health inequalities: briefing

Severe mental illness (SMI) and physical health inequalities: briefing - 

This analysis compares the prevalence of physical health conditions in patients with SMI and all patients (England May 2018) using data from the Health Improvement Network’s general practice database.

• Briefing
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Sexual safety on mental health wards

Care Quality Commission (CQC) - 
This report calls for new national guidance to improve the sexual safety of people and staff on mental health wards, following analysis of how mental health trusts in England report sexual incidents. The report shares findings from a review of patient safety incidents which found that more than a third of incidents could be categorised as sexual assault or harassment of patients or staff.

• Report
• Press release

Exploring the feasibility and acceptability of using tele-therapy for UK veterans with PTSD

Combat Stress -

This study, funded by the Forces in Mind Trust, evaluated a new approach in offering treatment to former Service personnel with mental health conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It found tele-therapy to be an accessible, flexible and cost-effective approach to delivering trauma-focused therapies.

• Report
• Press releaase