Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 409

Once again the future of social care is a main topic of the week. In Bulletin No. 409  you can read about the report "Who will care" which was commissioned by Essex County Council and seeks to avert a crisis in health and social care in the future. Embracing eight fundamental principles it offers five "high impact" solutions. Also this week a top police officer has embraced the long term problem of the mentally ill ending up in police cells, suggesting that A&E is a more suitable place for them to be taken to. This article on the BBC website is in advance of a Panorama programme that will be investigating the problem.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 398

Four watchdogs in England and Wales have joined forces to publish a report, A Criminal Use of Police Cells, which challenges the treatment mentally ill people receive when coming into contact with the judicial system.  Meanwhile the use of face-down restraint on mentally ill inpatients is being challenged. A large part of  Bulletin No. 389 comprises of news about social care: The Care Quality Commission is set to monitor death rates in care homes while Unison claims that two thirds of councils fund social care visits that only last 15 minutes.

Mental Health & Social Care Bulletin No. 380

In Bulletin 380 you can read that the Quality Care Commission (QCC) has just released their report: Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2011/12. This annual report focuses on the delivery of care to people who are covered by the Act, with an emphasis on dignity and involvement. With this in mind the QCC maintained after visiting 1,546 wards that patients were not being involved in the decision making surrounding their care. The Department of Health and mental health organisations have all welcomed the report and agreed with the findings

More say for the Learning Disabled needed

Mencap has criticised the ability of health professionals to understand, due to a lack of adequate training, the Mental Capacity Act and to then apply it to people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). As a direct result people with PMLD have too little involvement in the decision-making surrounding their care. After a three year collaboration with four other services Mencap have now published a guidance toolkit on their website: Involve Me

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Appealing against detention under the Mental Health Act

The personal experiences of patients appearing before the First-tier Tribunal (Mental Health), formerly the Mental Health Review Tribunal have been collated into an innovatative report commissioned by the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (AJTC) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 150 interviews were conducted with patients who had appealed against being detained under the Mental Health Act. It is the first time that such information has been available Read the full article Read the report