The government published a 10-year mental health strategy for England, with the twin aims of improving the mental health and well-being of the population, and improving the quality and accessibility of services for people with poor mental health. It set out plans involving a wide range of agencies to move towards a society where people understood that their mental well-being was as important as their physical health if they were to live their lives to the full. It described some of the factors that affected well-being, and some everyday strategies for preserving and boosting it. It also set out the benefits, including economic benefits, of doing so.
Source: New Horizons: A shared vision for mental health, Department of Health
Links: Strategy | Hansard | Mind press release | Rethink press release | MHF press release | Sainsbury Centre press release | YoungMinds press release | St Mungos press release | Turning Point press release | Sane press release | Samaritans press release | RCN press release | NASUWT press release | Community Care report | Inside Housing report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report presented the opinions of local health and social care leaders on the future of personal health budgets, focusing on mental health. There was widespread support for personal health budgets as a concept, and a strong consensus that they would offer significant benefits to many people managing long-term conditions: but most leaders were cautious over whether implementing this concept was realistic or not.
Source: Shaping Personal Health Budgets: A view from the top, NHS Confederation
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Dec
A joint inspectorate report said that mental health services in Wales were still failing many children and young people, despite 'some improvement' in recent years.
Source: Services for Children and Young People with Emotional and Mental Health Needs, Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (01443 848450), Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, Wales Audit Office, and Estyn
Links: Report | NHS Wales press release | WAO press release | WalesOnline report | BBC report | Nursing Times report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Nov
The government published a national delivery plan for health and criminal justice, building on the 2009 Bradley review of mental health and learning disability in the criminal justice system. The delivery plan was designed to contribute to key initiatives around protecting the public, reducing health inequalities, reducing reoffending, and health improvement and protection.
Source: Improving Health, Supporting Justice: The National Delivery Plan of the Health and Criminal Justice Programme Board, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Plan | Hansard | DH press release | SCMH press release | PRT press release | Turning Point press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report examined the services available to refugees and asylum-seekers. People who came to the United Kingdom seeking refuge faced a 'stark lack of understanding' of their mental health needs, and were often denied access to crucial services and treatments. Restrictive policies on healthcare, education, accommodation, and employment were having devastating consequences, further marginalizing refugees and asylum-seekers from society. A linked report said that primary care trusts and local authorities needed to do more to improve their engagement with refugee community organizations, and develop more culturally appropriate services.
Source: A Civilised Society: Mental health provision for refugees and asylum-seekers in England and Wales, Mind (020 8519 2122) | Improving Mental Health Support for Refugee Communities: An advocacy approach, Mind
Links: Report (1) | Report (2) | Mind press release
Date: 2009-Nov
A report said that care leavers with mental health problems were missing out on vital support due to a shortage of specialist transition services.
Source: Emily Lamont, Jennie Harland, Mary Atkinson and Richard White, Provision of Mental Health Services for Care Leavers: Transition to adult services, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Links: Report | Summary | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report examined the effect that age, gender, marital status, and ethnicity had on rates of access to mental health services. It also looked at service use in different parts of England. Elderly people, women, and people who were black, widowed, or single were more likely than other groups to use National Health Service specialist mental health services.
Source: Mental Health Bulletin: Third Report from Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS) Annual Returns, 2004-2009, NHS Information Centre (0845 300 6016)
Links: Report | NHS press release | Nursing Times report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report examined strategies in Northern Ireland for mental health promotion and suicide prevention, and made a series of recommendations.
Source: A Flourishing Society: Aspirations for emotional health and wellbeing in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health
Links: Report |NIAMH press release | NIE press release
Date: 2009-Oct
A report said that mental health services needed to abolish the 'arbitrary' division between provision for working-age adults and provision for older people. The traditional division between the two meant that services were being delivered on the basis of age, not need. People aged over 65 often lacked the support that was available to those under pensionable age.
Source: Age Discrimination in Mental Health Services: Making equality a reality, Royal College of Psychiatrists (020 7235 2351)
Links: Report | RCPsych press release | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Oct
An article examined mental health policy in Northern Ireland, and the extent to which service users had influenced the process of policy design and development. It raised questions about the extent to which a genuine commitment to, and investment in, user involvement had been achieved.
Source: Deirdre Heenan, 'Mental health policy in Northern Ireland: the nature and extent of user involvement', Social Policy and Society, Volume 8 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Oct
A paper examined the international literature on payment mechanisms for mental healthcare services, and drew lessons for the National Health Service in England.
Source: Anne Mason and Maria Goddard, Payment by Results in Mental Health: A review of the international literature and an economic assessment of the approach in the English NHS, Research Paper 50, Centre for Health Economics/University of York (01904 433648)
Links: Paper
Date: 2009-Sep
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that although there had been some improvements in recent years in mental health services in Wales, there was some way to go before services achieved consistently acceptable standards throughout the country.
Source: Inquiry into Community Mental Health Services, Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee/National Assembly for Wales (029 2089 8618)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Sep
The inspectorate for healthcare and social care published the results of a survey of people's experiences of acute mental health inpatient services. Too great a proportion felt let down over some important aspects of the care they received.
Source: Mental Health Acute Inpatient Service Users Survey 2009, Care Quality Commission (03000 616161)
Links: Report | CQC press release | DH press release | Mind press release | RCN press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Sep
A report said that little progress had been made in improving mental health services for black and minority-ethnic older people since 2001.
Source: Psychiatric Services for Black and Minority Ethnic Older People, College Report CR156, Royal College of Psychiatrists (020 7235 2351)
Links: Report | RCPsych press release
Date: 2009-Aug
The government began consultation on a strategy to improve mental well-being for the whole population. It focused on: the need to prevent as well as treat mental health problems, and to promote mental health and well-being; strengthening the focus on social inclusion, and tackling stigma and discrimination wherever they occurred; expanding the principle of early intervention to improve long-term outcomes; ensuring care was based on individuals' needs and wishes; and multi-agency commissioning/collaboration to achieve a joint approach between local authorities, the National Health Service, and others, mirrored by cross-government collaboration.
Source: New Horizons: Towards a shared vision for mental health, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Consultation document | DH press release | ADASS press release | SCMH press release | MHF press release | Rethink press release | Turning Point press release | RCN press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report said that the government's forthcoming mental health strategy should include commitments to outlawing discrimination, providing key public sector workers with mental health training, and setting a high-level target for improving outcomes.
Source: A Future Vision for Mental Health, Future Vision Coalition (publications@nhsconfed.org)
Links: Report | Future Coalition press release | Sainsbury Centre press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jul
The final report of the mental healthcare inspectorate (superseded in April 2009 by the Care Quality Commission) said that people detained under the Mental Health Act should be given better care. It had found examples of people receiving good care during their visits to services and meetings with patients: but there was too much variation across services.
Source: Mat Kinton, Coercion and Consent: Monitoring the Mental Health Act 2007-2009, Mental Health Act Commission c/o Care Quality Commission (03000 616161)
Links: Report | CQC press release | RCN press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report by a committee of MSPs said that there was 'disturbing evidence' that children under 5 were not being monitored for mental well-being by statutory services. It expressed 'deep concern' at the lack of progress in several areas of the national framework on child and adolescent mental health.
Source: Inquiry Into Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Well-Being, 7th Report 2009, SP Paper 309, Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SP press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report said that women accounted for over two-thirds of the growth in demand for National Health Service specialist mental health services over the period 2003-2008. It also highlighted the higher proportions of people from minority-ethnic groups who were in contact with the services, and who spent time in hospital for mental health conditions.
Source: Second Report on Experimental Statistics from Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS) Annual Returns, 2003-2008, NHS Information Centre (0845 300 6016)
Links: Report | NHS press release
Date: 2009-Jun
An audit report said that much had been done in Scotland to move mental health services from institutions into the community. There now needed to be a better understanding of the care people received and how resources to support this were best used.
Source: Overview of Mental Health Services, Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report | Summary | Audit Scotland press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-May
A report examined the feasibility of incorporating patient outcomes in mental health into a productivity measure.
Source: Rowena Jacobs, Investigating Patient Outcome Measures in Mental Health, Research Report 48, Centre for Health Economics/University of York (01904 433648)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
An article examined in-patient and residential alternatives to standard acute psychiatric wards in England, in order to develop a typology of such services and to describe their distribution and clinical populations.
Source: Sonia Johnson et al., 'In-patient and residential alternatives to standard acute psychiatric wards in England', British Journal of Psychiatry, Volume 194 Issue 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-May
The Scottish Government published a mental health improvement plan. There would be national 'marketing' campaigns to raise awareness of how adults and young people could promote their own well-being, aided by self-help resources and practical support.
Source: Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland: Policy and action plan 2009-2011, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SG press release
Date: 2009-May
An article examined participation in decision-making by users of mental health services. Although government policies officially attempted to recognize users and their voices, they simultaneously reconstituted 'failures of recognition' in terms of status subordination and a 'disqualified identity' for service users.
Source: Lydia Lewis, 'Politics of recognition: what can a human rights perspective contribute to understanding users' experiences of involvement in mental health services?', Social Policy and Society, Volume 8 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Apr
An article examined changes in mental health policy in England between 1997 and 2007. These were considered in relation to recurring policy questions about: the structures and processes involved in responding to mental health problems; professional jurisdiction for mental health problems; the conditions under which mental disorder should be lawfully controlled; links with wider health and welfare policy changes; and the enhancement of mental health in the population.
Source: David Pilgrim and Shulamit Ramon, 'English mental health policy under New Labour', Policy & Politics, Volume 37 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Apr
The government announced that it would publish, later in 2009, a 'New Horizons' strategy on mental health. The strategy would emphasize the need for a preventative approach to good mental health and well-being, while at the same time seeking to improve services for people who had mental health problems. The new strategy would build on the National Service Framework for mental health (which had come to an end in 2009).
Source: Press release 12 April 2009, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release | St Mungos/Crisis press release
Date: 2009-Apr
A new regulator for health, mental health, and adult social care was established on 1 April 2009. The Care Quality Commission replaced the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission, and the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
Source: Press release 1 April 2009, Care Quality Commission (03000 616161)
Links: CQC press release | DH press release | FPH press release | NCF press release | RCN press release | Alzheimers Society press release | FT report
Date: 2009-Apr
A mental health watchdog regulator said that women detained in hospital under mental health legislation were having their privacy, dignity, and safety compromised in some services.
Source: Women Detained in Hospital, Mental Health Act Commission (0115 943 7100)
Links: Community Care report
Date: 2009-Mar
The healthcare inspectorate said that older people were often denied equal access to mental health services in England. There was a lack of appropriate provision for people aged over 65, and limited national data on the quality of specialist older people's care. Out-of-hours and crisis services often only took referrals for people under 65 or for conditions other than dementia.
Source: Equality in Later Life: A national study of older people's mental health services, Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (020 7448 9200)
Links: Report | CHAI press release | Mind press release | Help the Aged press release | Alzheimers Society press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Mar
The healthcare inspectorate said that more improvements were needed in adult community specialist mental health services in England. Almost one-half of people needing specialist community mental healthcare still did not have a number to contact out-of-hours if they were in a crisis; and 55 per cent of people with schizophrenia had not been offered recommended psychological therapies.
Source: Adult Specialist Community Mental Health Services: Report of the follow-up to the 2005/06 review, Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (020 7448 9200)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report said that more needed to be done to support mental health service users in their recovery. Mental health services could improve the standard of care by assisting individuals with their money, housing, and healthcare needs – and by supporting them to self-manage their mental health-related symptoms.
Source: Recovery in Action: Project Report, Mental Health Foundation (020 7803 1100)
Links: Report | MHF press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Feb
A paper examined the general healthcare of people with mental health problems. General health morbidity among people with mental health problems was high. There was a need for good-quality general healthcare for psychiatric patients, whether in community settings or in-patient care. There was a need for clarity about the responsibility of the psychiatrist in general healthcare, working in partnership with primary healthcare and other specialist colleagues.
Source: Physical Health in Mental Health, Occasional Paper OP67, Royal College of Psychiatrists (020 7235 2351)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jan
An article examined the relationship between mental health service user/survivor groups and women's groups, and the issues that required working through in order to achieve a common agenda for change.
Source: Lydia Lewis, 'Mental health and human rights: a common agenda for service user/survivor and women's groups?', Policy & Politics, Volume 37 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jan