Health Management and Policy Alert

NHS 111 mental health triage service

NHS Confederation - 

NHS Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), worked with partners, including people with lived experience, to develop a seamless, single point of access to mental health crisis support using mental health nurses working in NHS 111. The new service provides easy access to support for patients, takes pressure off the rest of the system by reducing attendance at A&E, and enables people to get mental health support before a problem becomes a crisis.

• Case study

Time for action: investing in comprehensive mental health support for children and young people

Centre for Mental Health - 

This report, published together with the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, highlights the historic underinvestment in children and young people’s mental health, and the postcode lottery of support which has resulted. Public spending on children’s mental health lags behind investment in adult mental health services and there is wide variation in the amount spent per child in different areas. The report calls for a comprehensive mental health investment strategy for 0-25 year olds.

• Report
• More detail

Children and young people’s mental health

House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee - 

This report calls for urgent action to prevent mental health services slipping backwards as a result of additional demand created by the pandemic and the scale of unmet need prior to it. MPs found that despite progress in numbers of young people receiving treatment, it was unacceptable that more than half with a diagnosable condition pre-pandemic do not receive the mental health support they need.

• Report
• Press release

The Health and Social Care Committee’s Expert Panel : evaluation of the government’s progress against its policy commitments in the area of mental health services in England

House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee - 

This report evaluates government progress to deliver commitments on a wider range of mental health services in England. Its overall rating against progress on nine commitments in four policy areas is ‘requires improvement’. The areas evaluated are: workforce; children and young people’s mental health; adult common mental illness; and adult severe mental illness.

• Report
• Press release

Lockdown on loneliness: creating connection for people with a learning disability

Hft - 
According to this report, experiences of loneliness were not limited to Covid lockdown for people with learning disabilities. Over a third (36 per cent) of people with a learning disability surveyed after lockdown said they felt lonely nearly always or all the time, while one in three people (37 per cent) also said that they hardly ever or never go out to socialise – suggesting that their experiences of loneliness were not a consequence of restrictions introduced due to the pandemic. The report highlights unmet support needs as a key driver of loneliness which prevents many people with a learning disability from taking opportunities to socialise.

• Report
• Hft - press release

Community mental health survey 2021

Care Quality Commission -
People were eligible to take part in the survey if they had at least one contact with services between September and November 2020, with another contact either before, during or after this period. In addition, some questions ask participants to reflect on their care over the last 12 months. Therefore, results of this survey reflect experiences of care throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. This report shows that people are consistently reporting poor experiences of NHS community mental health services, with few positive results. Many people reported that their mental health had deteriorated as a result of changes made to their care and treatment due to the pandemic.

• Care Quality Commission - publications

Invisible women: understanding women’s experiences of long-term imprisonment

Prison Reform Trust - 

This briefing highlights the far-reaching consequences of a lack of specialist, gender-specific, trauma informed provision for the the small minority of women serving very long determinate or indeterminate prison sentences. Most women serving long prison sentences will have extensive histories of trauma and are often victims as well as perpetrators. In a study of women serving life sentences, 60 per cent reported histories of sexual abuse, 80 per cent had experienced physical abuse and 54 per cent reported both sexual and physical abuse. Women lacking specialist support can feel isolated in their trauma; those serving long sentences are more exposed to repeat traumatisation.

• Briefing
• Press release

A joint thematic inspection of the criminal justice journey for individuals with mental health needs and disorders

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation -
Inspectors looked at more than 300 cases from six regions, interviewed 550 professionals, and heard from 67 people with mental health issues who had been through the criminal justice system, from first contact with the police to release from prison. The inspection found poor support for people with mental health issues and concludes that too little progress had been made since the last review in 2009.

• Report
• The Bradley Report (2009)
• Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation - press release

A lifeline for London

Centre for Mental Health - 

This report, commissioned by the Mayor of London, explores how voluntary and community organisations in the capital supported people’s mental health during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, how they adapted to the crisis, and what they’ve learned from the experience. The report calls on commissioners to learn from the pandemic and find ways of funding voluntary and community organisations that enable them to work more flexibly, to advocate on behalf of their communities as well as provide services, and to have more stable finances.

• Report
• Press release

The state of the world's children 2021

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) - 

This report finds that children and young people could feel the impact of Covid-19 on their mental health and well-being for many years to come. The report examines child, adolescent and caregiver mental health. It focuses on risks and protective factors at critical moments in the life course and delves into the social determinants that shape mental health and well-being.

• Report
• Press release