A report provided an overview of mental health reform in Europe. Considerable efforts had been made to shift the balance of care from psychiatric hospitals to a varied provision of services in the community for people with severe mental health problems. But despite far-reaching changes in some countries, institutions were still the dominant form of service provision in many countries.
Source: Agnes Kozma and Gabor Petri, Mapping Exclusion: Institutional and community-based services in the mental health field in Europe, Mental Heath Europe
Links: Report | EPHA press release
Date: 2012-Nov
A paper examined ways in which Health and Wellbeing Boards could influence commissioning to promote and protect mental well-being and support recovery from mental ill-health.
Source: Jed Boardman and Lynne Friedli, Recovery, Public Mental Health and Wellbeing, Mental Health Network (NHS Confederation)/Centre for Mental Health
Links: Paper | NHS Confederation press release
Date: 2012-Oct
The Welsh Government published a 10-year strategy for mental health. The was designed to improve the outcomes for users of mental health services, their carers, and their families, as well as the well-being and resilience of the wider population.
Source: Together for Mental Health: A strategy for mental health and wellbeing in Wales, Welsh Government
Links: Strategy | Welsh Government press release | Hafal press release | MHF press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Oct
An article examined the government's Delivering Race Equality programme, which sought, through the employment of community development workers in the field of mental health, to engage with minority-ethnic populations and encourage more appropriate mental health services. Despite the possibilities for innovative work, community development workers were often located in marginal positions within local health service structures. Notwithstanding some modest gains, the programme appeared to have failed to achieve a sustainable shift in the direction of culturally sensitive and accessible services, reflecting a more general and continuing marginalization of 'race' within welfare provision.
Source: Gary Craig and Reg Walker, '"Race" on the welfare margins: the UK government's Delivering Race Equality mental health programme', Community Development Journal, Volume 47 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
The Scottish Government published a new strategy designed to improve the mental health and well-being of all people in Scotland. It set out 36 key commitments to be delivered by 2015, including: faster access to mental health services for younger people; faster access to psychological therapies; work to reduce and prevent suicide; and addressing stigma and discrimination.
Source: Mental Health Strategy for Scotland: 2012–2015, Scottish Government
Links: Strategy | Scottish Government press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Aug
Total government expenditure on mental health services fell by 1 per cent in real terms in 2011-12, the first annual reduction since 2001.
Source: Tony Ingham, 2011/12 National Survey of Investment in Adult Mental Health Services, Department of Health | Tony Ingham, 2011/12 National Survey of Investment In Mental Health Services for Older People, Department of Health
Links: Report (1) | Report (2) | Summary | Labour Party press release | YoungMinds press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Aug
An article examined core concepts underlying patient access to mental healthcare, synthesized these to develop a conceptual model of access, and considered the implications of the model for the development and evaluation of interventions for groups with poor access to mental healthcare (such as older people and ethnic minorities).
Source: Linda Gask, Peter Bower, Jon Lamb, Heather Burroughs, Carolyn Chew-Graham, Suzanne Edwards, Derek Hibbert, Marija Kovandzic, Karina Lovell, Anne Rogers, Waquas Waheed, Christopher Dowrick, and AMP Group, 'Improving access to psychosocial interventions for common mental health problems in the United Kingdom: narrative review and development of a conceptual model for complex interventions', BMC Health Services Research, Volume 12
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Aug
A report by an all-party group of MPs expressed concern about the future of mental health services in the 'reformed' National Health Service. It said that family doctors might not possess enough knowledge of mental health problems to commission services effectively.
Source: Health and Social Care Reform: Making It Work for Mental Health, All Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health
Links: Report | Mind press release
Date: 2012-Jul
A watchdog report said that children and young people faced multiple barriers in making complaints about mental health and sexual health services in England. Complaints systems were too complicated, took too long, relied too much on written skills, and were overly formal. Staff in mental health, sexual health, and family doctor services were not trained to receive and act on complaints made by children and young people.
Source: Cathy Street, Yvonne Anderson, Brenda Allan, Adrienne Katz, Mary Webb, and Joe Roberson, 'It Takes a Lot of Courage', Office of the Children's Commissioner
Links: Report | OCC press release
Date: 2012-Jul
A report provided a preliminary assessment of the Mental Health Act 2007. It said there was evidence that the introduction of independent mental health advocacy was valued. Evidence was still emerging on other areas (such as supervised community treatment and the interface between the deprivation of liberty safeguards and the Mental Health Act 1983).
Source: Post-Legislative Assessment of the Mental Health Act 2007, Cm 8408, Department of Health, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jul
The government published a mental health implementation framework, setting out what organizations could do to make the high-level objectives of the mental health strategy a reality.
Source: No Health Without Mental Health: Implementation framework, Department of Health
Links: Framework | Supplementary note | DH press release | DPM press release | ADASS press release | CMH press release | Mind press release | Sane press release | Turning Point press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jul
Date: 2012-Jun
Date: 2012-Jun
Date: 2012-Jun
The Welsh Government began consultation on a strategy for promoting mental health and well-being.
Source: Together for Mental Health: A cross-government strategy for mental health and wellbeing in Wales, Welsh Government
Links: Consultation document | BBC report
Date: 2012-May
A report examined the views of leaders in the National Health Service (commissioners, service providers, and local authorities) on the barriers to improving access, experience, and outcomes for black and minority-ethnic users of mental health services.
Source: Hari Sewell and Sue Waterhouse, Making Progress on Race Equality in Mental Health, Mental Health Network/NHS Confederation
Date: 2012-May
An article examined recent policy developments in England and Northern Ireland relating to mental health and intellectual disability. The policies and legislation introduced to address issues such as accessing mental healthcare and service standards had still to make a significant impact on people's daily lives.
Source: Eddie Chaplin and Laurence Taggart, 'England and Northern Ireland policy and law update relating to mental health and intellectual disability', Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, Volume 6 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An article said that service user involvement was essential in the development and evaluation of the forthcoming new mental health strategy for Europe.
Source: Felicity Callard and Diana Rose, 'The mental health strategy for Europe: why service user leadership in research is indispensable', Journal of Mental Health, Volume 21 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A think-tank report said that the National Health Service was failing to offer people with mental illness a full choice of psychological counselling and therapies. It called on it to use therapists from the private and voluntary sector to allow people more choice, improved services, and equal access.
Source: Samantha Callan and Benjamin Fry, Commissioning Effective Talking Therapies, Centre for Social Justice
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
A report examined the benefits of improving the emotional and psychological well-being of patients with long-term conditions. An estimated 30 per cent of people with a long-term condition also had a mental health problem. Co-morbid mental health problems were a major cost driver in the care of long-term conditions, accounting for a 45-75 per cent increase in service costs. Service models that addressed the full range of patient needs had been shown to improve patient outcomes and lead to cost savings that far outweighed the cost of the psychological interventions.
Source: Long-Term Health Gains: Investing in emotional and psychological wellbeing for patients with long-term conditions and medically unexplained symptoms, NHS Confederation
Links: Report | Summary | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book examined how trust developed, or failed to develop, within mental healthcare contexts.
Source: Patrick Brown and Michael Calnan, Trusting on the Edge: Managing uncertainty and vulnerability in the midst of serious mental health problems, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book said that the field of mental health was undergoing a considerable 'paradigm shift' in terms of rethinking core issues – including the capacity for social inclusion, and the meaning of empowerment and recovery from mental illness. It considered how to enable service providers, users, carers, and the general public to be open to the possibilities that this shift could lead to, and to actively participate in the process of change.
Source: Peter Ryan, Shula Ramon, and Tim Greacen (eds.), Empowerment, Lifelong Learning and Recovery in Mental Health: Towards a new paradigm, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Apr
A paper called for a greater degree of integration between services designed to support people with a 'dual diagnosis' of mental illness and drug and alcohol problems.
Source: Dual Diagnosis: A challenge for the reformed NHS and for Public Health England, Centre for Mental Health/DrugScope/UK Drug Policy Commission
Links: Paper | CMH press release
Date: 2012-Mar
The mental health watchdog for Scotland said that hundreds of the most vulnerable people in Scotland had been 'left behind' in mental health institutions where they received the poorest care in the country.
Source: Left Behind, Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Mar
A new textbook examined changes in the delivery of mental health services being brought about by a more influential service user movement, a range of new community-based mental healthcare programmes, an increasing plurality of service providers, and new mental health policy and legislation.
Source: Peter Phillips, Tom Sandford, and Claire Johnston (eds.), Working in Mental Health: Practice and policy in a changing environment, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined the experiences and views of experts in 14 European countries regarding mental healthcare for six socially marginalized groups: long-term unemployed people; street sex workers; homeless people; refugees/asylum-seekers; irregular migrants, and members of the travelling communities. Experts held similar views on what constituted good practice: care might be improved through better service organization, co-ordination, and information.
Source: Stefan Priebe, Aleksandra Matanov, Ruth Schor, Christa Strassmayr, Henrique Barros, Margaret Barry, Jose Manuel Diaz-Ollala, Edina Gabor, Tim Greacen, Petra Holcnerova, Ulrike Kluge, Vincent Lorant, Jacek Moskalewicz, Aart Schene, Gloria Macassa, and Andrea Gaddini, 'Good practice in mental health care for socially marginalised groups in Europe: a qualitative study of expert views in 14 countries', BMC Public Health, Volume 12
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined a review of service user involvement within mental health services, which was led by service users using the 'appreciative enquiry' (AE) method. It found that replicating and developing the use of AE driven by service users was a positive tool in empowering recipients of mental health services.
Source: Nick Dent, 'Taking a lead from the users of mental health care services', International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, Volume 7 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Notes: Appreciative enquiry is based on the concept that every organization has positive aspects that can be built upon, and that enquiries should seek to establish what is working well, rather than focusing on what might be working badly.
Date: 2012-Feb
A report said that people with long-term conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease, were 2-3 times more likely to experience mental health problems than the general population: but a systemic failure to identify these problems and provide effective support was resulting in poorer outcomes for patients and could be costing the National Health Service billions. of pounds.
Source: Chris Naylor, Michael Parsonage, David McDaid, Martin Knapp, Matt Fossey, and Amy Galea, Long-Term Conditions and Mental Health: The cost of co-morbidities, King s Fund/Centre for Mental Health
Links: Report | Kings Fund press release | NICE press release
Date: 2012-Feb
The Supreme Court ruled that National Health Service trusts had a duty under the European Convention on Human Rights to take appropriate steps to prevent voluntary mental health patients from taking their own lives.
Source: Rabone and another v Pennine Care NHS Trust, UKSC 2 (2012), United Kingdom Supreme Court
Links: Judgement | Supreme Court press release | Inquest press release | Mind press release
Date: 2012-Feb
A study found a positive link between improvements in mental health services and a reduction in suicide rates.
Source: David While, Harriet Bickley, Alison Roscoe, Kirsten Windfuhr, Shaiyan Rahman, Jenny Shaw, Louis Appleby, and Navneet Kapur, 'Implementation of mental health service recommendations in England and Wales and suicide rates, 1997 2006: a cross-sectional and before-and-after observational study', The Lancet Online first 2 February 2012
Links: Abstract | Paper | Manchester University press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined the experience of people from hard to reach groups in gaining access to mental healthcare in primary care services.
Source: Jonathan Lamb, Peter Bower, Anne Rogers, Christopher Dowrick, and Linda Gask, 'Access to mental health in primary care: a qualitative meta-synthesis of evidence from the experience of people from "hard to reach" groups', Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, Volume 16 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
A report examined variations in the definitions of an inpatient bed in the mental health sector, which had led to difficulty in benchmarking and understanding patterns of performance. It suggested a range of definitions that could be used by commissioners and service providers.
Source: Defining Mental Health Services: Promoting effective commissioning and supporting QIPP, Mental Health Network/NHS Confederation
Links: Report | NHS Confederation press release
Date: 2012-Jan
An article examined the potential impact of narrow conceptualizations of the inclusion (or participation) of service users in mental health policy development and implementation. It highlighted the value of service user groups considering alternative forms of involvement, rather than those prescribed by 'Third Way' or 'Big Society' thinking.
Source: Sue Cowan, David Banks, Paul Crawshaw, and Andrew Clifton, 'Mental health service user involvement in policy development: social inclusion or disempowerment?', Mental Health Review Journal, Volume 16 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
A new book presented an overview of practice and policy across a range of mental health settings. It explored how to combine skills, theories, and expertise from a range of disciplines in response to the diverse needs of service users – including children, older people, and people with complex needs.
Source: Di Bailey, Interdisciplinary Working in Mental Health, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jan
A paper said that there was a risk that the new national National Health Service systems for payment by results were being developed in ways that would clash with the delivery of personalization in mental health services.
Source: Getting It Together for Mental Health Care: Payment by results, personalisation and whole system working, National Development Team for Inclusion
Links: Paper | NDTI press release
Date: 2012-Jan