Chancellors Autumn Statement

So Health and social care leaders have condemned the chancellor's Autumn Statement as a missed opportunity to announce new investment. There had been calls for more funding for council-run social care in England, amid concerns that limits to care were leaving patients stuck in hospitals. But predictions of "looming chaos" were rejected by the chancellor. Philip Hammond said a previously-announced NHS funding commitment was in line with what its leaders had wanted. Cuts in social care funding in England have been blamed for a sharp increase in the number of patients stuck in hospital beds because care cannot be arranged elsewhere. One suggestion for the Autumn Statement was for local authorities to be allowed to raise more from council tax. The chancellor did not offer new resources either for the NHS or social care when outlining the Treasury's plans, only confirming that ministers would be sticking with departmental spending announced last year. Hugh Pym: More pressing priorities? Autumn Statement: Key points How the care system works across the UK Speaking in the debate following his statement, Mr Hammond referred to an extra £10bn in money for the NHS by 2020-21. However, that figure that has been questioned by MPs on the Commons health committee and the King's Fund think tank among others. The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services said there would be increasing delays in the NHS and growing gaps in the care market this winter, adding that the government "has plainly ignored a wide range of respected voices". The Royal College of Physicians president, Prof Jane Dacre, said amid "growing waiting lists, underfunding of social care, and growing numbers of emergency departments closing their doors the decision not to even mention or increase funding is alarming". The Local Government Association said it was unacceptable that the "crisis" in social care funding had not been addressed, and the NHS Confederation, which represents health service providers, said the government had "missed a golden opportunity to ease the strain on the NHS". Former pensions minister Ros Altmann also said the "chancellor has missed an opportunity to really signal that the government cares about the social care crisis". In his response to the Autumn Statement, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said local authorities were at a "tipping point" with social care services, adding "You can't cut social care without also hitting the NHS". Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will visit a hospital in the Midlands later to highlight the party's argument that the government is not helping the NHS during an intense financial squeeze.

'Depression and Christmas

Here is a brilliant article taken from the BBC web site called 'Depression and Christmas just don't go' By Charlotte Walker http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-30433361

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trus

The case of MrGrew from Rubery Birmingham , the father of two who took his own life was according to the Coroner failed by a mental health trust, The refuse collector had been worried about losing his job and had threatened to kill himself. Birmingham deputy coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe said there had been failures in assessing Mr Grew's suicide risk and in establishing his recent history, but said these did not amount to neglect. Ms Ormond-Walshe recorded a narrative verdict at Tuesday's inquest. She is to write to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to ask for portable computers to be given to staff so they can check the health records of the person they are visiting.

Ealing Council cuts

An excellent blog re this issue http://www.katebelgrave.com/2013/01/ealing-council-austerity-and-people-with-learning-disabilities/

IN2MENTALHEATH BLOG

Brilliant blog " Eight encounters with Mental Health care Kenya " http://in2mentalhealth.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/eight-encounters-with-mental-health-care-kenya/ …

"WE THE PEOPLE Cry Out For Better Mental Healthcare"

A fascinating insight in to the world of MH in the USA by Gerald Bouthner "WE THE PEOPLE Cry Out For Better Mental Healthcare" The state of mental healthcare in America is a hot topic again recently. The truth of the matter is in the U.S. at various times and even in recent history the same has been true. Even in recent decades cries for change have rung out to our leaders. As a result of these cries for changes in our mental healthcare system, attempts have been made and some changes have occurred. These attempts and changes although helpful in some ways have fell way short of being a solution. Although it has been shown that mental illness is a treatable condition, still less than half of Americans with a mental illness are receiving treatment. When treated with drug therapy and psychotherapy upwards of 70 percent of people with mental illness experience a significant improvement in symptoms and quality of life. Yet still, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) such a significant amount of people with mental illnesses in the U.S. go untreated that the annual economic cost of untreated mental illness in this country is over 100 billion dollars. According to a 2007 report released by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) there were still many gaps in the U.S. mental healthcare system. One gap that was pointed out in this report was that there was a critical shortage of individuals trained to meet the mental health needs of children and youth, and their families. In this report the federal government projected the need for 12,624 child and adolescent psychiatrists by 2020, which far exceeded the projected supply that would be available which would be 8,312 as was highlighted in the report. This report also noted that of the projected total of adolescent psychiatrists that would be available, relatively few of those were located in rural and low-income areas. SAMHSA Full Report Problems within the U.S. mental healthcare system have existed for a very long time. Some changes have been made in attempts to address them, but clearly more needs to be done. Governmental attempts at improving mental health care in the U.S. In 1955 Then Senator John F. Kennedy sponsored a bill which passed unanimously that same year in congress called the Mental Health Study Act. This bill called for a truly comprehensive review of the nations mental health system. Sounds very familiar to the cries being made now. In 1963 just prior to his death then President John F. Kennedy signed into law the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act (CMHCA) of 1963. This act called for the replacement of the flailing mental institutions with mental health community centers. In the 1970's amendments to the CMHCA act were passed to further improve the countries efforts to replace traditional public mental hospitals with community mental health centers. This movement started by John F. Kennedy along with the help of the National Institute of Mental Health was so effective in this regard that the number of patients in mental hospitals had now declined by 62 percent. However noble the efforts and intentions were for improving mental healthcare for Americans by deinstitutionalization , major issues arose during this transition. The funds withdrawn from state mental institutions were suppose to follow all patients and be infused into the community based mental health centers. But no proper coordination or authority was established to ensure this happened and it didn't. As a result, many of this countries mentally ill citizens were left to suffer without any real comprehensive treatment. Little more than basic custodial care was being provided leaving the severely mentally ill without any true rehabilitative care. Because of the lack of comprehensive care many of those in our nation that were suffering with severe mental illness either ended up in jail, were left homeless, or had to live in unregulated substandard housing. In the 1980's very little changes for the good for the mentally ill in this country. As deinstitutionalization continues, so do the same problems. By this point it is estimated that as many as one-third of the homeless people in the U.S. are believed to be seriously mentally ill. Lack of comprehensive treatment for the severely mental ill resulted in increasing episodes of disorderly conduct and violence and a growing number of imprisonments. One jail official in Ohio stated when interviewed in the 80's about the influx of mentally ill prisoners "Deinstitutionalization doesn't work. We just switched places. Instead of being in hospitals the people are in jail. The whole system is topsy-turvy and the last person served is the mentally ill person". Read more here. In the 1990’s some improvements are made with the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act which provides protections for people with any disability mental or physical. In 1991 The Public Health Service Act is passed enacting requirements for state comprehensive mental health service plans. Yet these attempts still fell short of a full improvement. In the 90's NAMI releases a report about the state of the nations mental health care. In this report NAMI highlights that 8 crises still existed. There are more than twice the amount of people with schizophrenia and manic depressive psychosis living in public shelters or in the streets than there are in public mental hospitals. There were more people with schizophrenia or manic depressive disorder in jail than in public mental hospitals. Increasing violent episodes by seriously mentally ill persons were a consequence of not receiving adequate treatment. Mental health professionals have abandoned the public sector and patients with serious mental illnesses. Most community health centers have been abysmal failures. Funding of public services for individuals with serious mental illness was chaotic. An undetermined portion of public funds for services for people with mental illness is literally being stolen. Guidelines for serving people with mental illnesses are often made at both the federal and state level by administrators who have had no experience in the field. The complete report by NAMI. Here in the 2000's, President George W. Bush in recognition of the inequality of health care for the mentally ill created the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. This commission in short was to identify policies that could be utilized by Federal, State and local governments to improve the coordination of treatments and services for adults with serious mental illnesses and children with serious emotional disturbances. You can view the executive summary of suggestions and results found by the commission here: Final Report The Vision Statement of the President's final report: "We envision a future when everyone with a mental illness will recover, a future when mental illnesses can be prevented or cured, a future when mental illnesses are detected early, and a future when everyone with a mental illness at any stage of life has access to effective treatment and supports - essentials for living, working, learning, and participating fully in the community". Quite a profound vision statement indeed! We are all hoping that these profound words will be followed very soon with further necessary actions to move closer towards realizing as much of that goal as we can. In 2008 the U.S. took another step in the right direction when Congress passed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act with the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 208. This eliminated the higher deductibles that were often in place for mental health care and restrictions of treatment. Federal law mandated that all states and group health plans were to comply by 2010. This leads us to today. Another comprehensive review of the nations mental health system is in order. We the people are crying out a new call to action to fix a mental health system that is still clearly in a state of crisis. In 2009 NAMI released their latest overall grade of the U.S. mental healthcare system and gave the nation a dismal D. Full report Today, because of insufficient treatment or none at all, many people still languish in the suffering inflicted upon them by their mental illnesses. Today many of our mentally ill citizens still unfairly populate our streets in homelessness and have been shuttled into our prison systems. Today many people with mental illnesses still remain untreated. As much as 30% of homeless people have a combination of mental illness and addiction disorder. Over 90% of those who commit suicide have a mental disorder. Adults with serious mental illnesses die as much as 25 years sooner than the average American. Over 20% of prisoners in both state prisons and jails have mental illnesses. As many as 70% of our youth's in juvenile justice systems have mental disorders. Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in the world. From fiscal years 2009-2012 States cut a total of 1.6 billion dollars from their mental health budgets. (NAMI) Some of the mentally ill in this country can be helped significantly and will be able to function successfully after receiving services from a community based mental healthcare center. However other's will need additional intensive care and social support in order to be able to function successfully in the community. Still other's with the most severe and chronic mental illnesses will need constant assistance and supervision. Those with chronic mental illness without such treatment will just continue to populate our prison's and our streets in homelessness. This is a very comprehensive problem that needs to be addressed with very comprehensive solutions. What can be done? On December 20th, 2012 NAMI wrote our President offering to work along with the White House in fixing our mental healthcare system. In this letter they outlined suggestions that if properly implemented and utilized will steer our Country in the right direction. Here is the gist of those six suggestions.You can also read the complete letter here. Improve early identification and intervention in mental health care. Too often, what in hindsight are clear signs of the need for mental health care are not identified until after a crisis happens. It is well documented that timely mental health treatment can prevent crises and foster recovery. Routine mental health screening should become part of standard practice so mental health conditions are identified early when they can most effectively be treated. Provide training to school personnel, law enforcement, families and members of the community on how to identify and respond to youth and adults experiencing mental health crises. Too often, those in a position to help do not know what to do when a child or adult manifests the early signs and symptoms of mental illness. Implement school based mental health services and supports. Drop-out rates among students classified as Emotionally Disturbed (ED) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are alarmingly high, over 50 percent. We are clearly not addressing the needs of students struggling with mental health conditions in many of our nation’s schools. Increase the qualified mental health workforce. Throughout the nation, there are critical shortages in the availability of qualified mental health professionals. In many communities, children and adults are placed on long waiting lists to access mental health services. Fully implement key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including mental health and addictions parity requirements. Passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a seminal achievement in improving health and mental health care in this country. Protect federal funding of Medicaid. Youth and adults with mental illnesses are among the largest, most important class of Medicaid beneficiaries. Forty-eight percent of all public mental health services in America are funded through Medicaid. Reductions in federal funding of Medicaid would have a devastating impact on people with mental illnesses. If our nation is to rightly fix its broken mental health system and provide adequate and equal healthcare for its mentally ill citizens, implementing the above suggestions made by NAMI is crucial. These six points alone if implemented and carried out properly would improve the care of the mentally ill in this country significantly. Note: On January 16th, 2013 President Obama in addressing the nation's plans for protecting its communities from gun violence, also called for mental health first aid training for teachers and staff to help them recognize mental health disorders in our young people. This new initiative called Project Aware also calls for the training of more than 5000 additional mental health professionals to serve students and young adults. Project Aware details. I sincerely hope that our country responds swiftly to all the additional suggestions made for improving a mental healthcare system that has failed to provide adequate help for those suffering from mental illness. Over the course of this nations history various attempts have been made to improve the nation's mental healthcare system. All such previous attempts have fallen short of doing so. Many of our mentally ill citizens have suffered at the hands of an inadequate mental healthcare system. It is time to put an end to this sad history of unnecessary suffering. After all this is a Country which is a government of the people, by the people, for the people that shall not perish from the earth. We the people want equal health care treatment for our mentally ill. Guest Blogger ~ Author: Gerald Bouthner Mental health advocate Published Mental Health Article Writer Mental Health Blogger: The Challenges of Mental Illness Social Contact Information: Twitter Google+ Facebook

New drug abuse service for Erlestoke Prison

Inmates at HM Prison Service - Erlestoke in Wiltshire are to be supported by a new specialist drugs and alcohol abuse service run by the Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust, which I believe is due to be launched in April of this year All to often we punish the person NOT treat the illness , this is a positive steep forward :)

Sirius project

Can I draw your attention to this excellent blog http://paper.li/sirius_project/1308403395

The Lewisham's A&E unit effect

SO Lewisham's A&E unit WILL BE DOWN SIZED , the change will I fear, still have a hard impact on health services in the and indeed the whole NHS for that matter. The officials say that the plan to change into a so called urgent care centre has been stopped by the minister responsible But be under no illusion the A&E dept currently a major type one unit will still being downgraded. Thus only 25% of the patients using the unit are likely to be affected the rest will still be able to get treatment need from the new service post reorganisation. But the absence of they 25% must in my view have a profound impact. They are the sickest, most urgent cases who are brought to hospital in ambulances etc . Without them Lewisham hospital will not need its critical care dept and a host of other associated services. Hospitals are highly complex and interlinked organisations, taking away one thing has a ripple effect upon rest of the hospital. If this can be done to a general hospital can the same not happen to others such as those dealing with MH ?

Germany 'exporting' old and sick to foreign care homes

The following is from the Guardian Germany 'exporting' old and sick to foreign care homes Pensioners are being sent to care homes in eastern Europe and Asia in an austerity move dismissed as 'inhumane deportation' http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/2012/dec/26/german-elderly-foreign-care-homes

Ourvoice magazine

Can I point you all to the excellent trust magazine from Avon and Wiltshire mental health Partnership NHS Trust at the link below , its always well worth a read :) http://www.awp.nhs.uk/media/326175/ourvoice14.pdf

Labour and Mental Health

Mental illness 'biggest UK health challenge' - Miliband Mr Miliband says "vast changes" are needed across society to tackle mental illness Continue reading the main story Related Stories Global call on mental health care MP mental health ban to be axed Labour: We got under Tories' skin The problem of mental illness in the UK is the "biggest unaddressed health challenge of our age", Labour leader Ed Miliband is to say in a speech later. It "blights the lives of millions", costing UK business £26bn and the NHS an extra £10bn a year, he is to say. Mr Miliband wants to give patients the same legal right to mental health therapies as physical healthcare. Mental illness is "a taboo which must be broken if we are to rebuild Britain", he is expected to say. Mr Miliband is giving his first major speech since the Labour Party conference where he adopted the "one nation" slogan created by 19th Century Tory Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. He will say that just as Disraeli addressed the national challenge of sanitation in the 19th Century, and the foundation of the NHS followed in the 20th Century, the mental health challenge facing the UK must be addressed this century. "One in four of us will have a mental illness at some point in our lifetime," Mr Miliband will say. "There are so many people in Britain today who could be treated but who are intimidated from seeking help. And so many people who need support but... believe that no-one will care. "For far too long our leading politicians have been far too silent about mental health, part of a taboo running across our society which infects both our culture and our politics. "It is a taboo which not only blights the lives of millions but also puts severe strain on the funding of our NHS and threatens Britain's ability to pay our way in the world. "It is a taboo which must be broken if we are to rebuild Britain as one nation." Taskforce Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Good mental health doesn't start in hospital or the treatment room, it starts in our workplaces, our schools and our communities” The following article is from the BBC web site Ed Miliband Labour Party leader He will announce proposals to improve mental health provision in the NHS, including: Rewriting the NHS constitution to enshrine patients' legal right to therapies for mental illness Mental health training for all staff Better integration of physical and mental healthcare, and social care Neglecting the problem ends up costing the NHS more, Mr Miliband will argue, "in the strains and demands placed on those who carry the burden of care and in the trouble stored up over the years as minor problems become major ones". Meanwhile, the annual costs to UK business are £15bn in reduced productivity, £8.5bn in sickness absence, and £2.5bn to replace staff who can no longer work. The Labour leader is setting up a taskforce - led by the chairman of Barts Health NHS Trust, Stephen O'Brien - to draw up a strategic plan for mental health in society. Mr Miliband will say: "Too often governments have been stuck in a mindset that thought that physical health should always take priority - or that the answer to our health crises started and stopped with new government programmes. "But good mental health doesn't start in hospital or the treatment room, it starts in our workplaces, our schools and our communities. "So the task falls as much to organisations like the CBI as it does to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In fact, everybody has a part to play. Only a nation acting together can overcome the challenge we face."

Where’s welfare going?

I found this brilliant article on the Fabian Society web site , its well worth a read . Where’s welfare going? Andrew Harrop 25 October 2012 Welfare has borne the brunt of the coalition’s austerity cuts and George Osborne threatens that another £10 billion will be slashed after the next election, should the Conservatives remain in office. Plenty for the Opposition to get its teeth stuck into then. But Labour should look to the horizon, not just prepare for trench warfare. Politicians spend too much of their time fighting on the detail of welfare, and not enough thinking about the fundamentals. We need to ask what is welfare here for and what we want it to do, not just today, but in 30 or 50 years’ time? In my view welfare has six aims, which command varying degrees of support from across the political spectrum: Preventing poverty (the political argument is over how poverty should be defined, not whether it’s a problem) Incentivising work, progression in work and private saving or insurance (pretty much everyone supports this in principle; the devil is in the detail) Smoothing lifetime welfare, to respond to times when incomes are lower or costs are higher (I thought this argument commanded political support across the board, but at a seminar a couple of weeks ago I heard it challenged, which suggests the Tory right may not be as supportive of the state pension system as I’d thought) Stabilising the economy (we tend to forget that welfare bills are meant to rise during a recession and this helps shore up consumer demand) Responding to market failures (many in Labour circles have started to conceptualise some of welfare as a ‘sticking plaster’ for economic failure such as poverty-pay or excessive rents) Reducing economic inequality (an extension of pure poverty reduction, for those who think welfare is also a means of redistributing geographically around the country and tackling income disparities across the whole income spectrum). In truth, most of these aims can and should be objectives of the tax system as well. Welfare and tax ought to be designed as a single endeavour, with careful evaluation of whether changes to tax will achieve goals better than spending. Indeed, in the long-term many hope that tax and welfare will gradually merge, although the roadblocks are formidable. But even when we just consider the welfare system, it’s clear that some policies achieve these aims better than others. In particularly, ‘universal’ welfare is almost always a better response that means-tested targeting. That’s self-evidently true in the case of incentivising work and saving (means-testing is a huge disincentive) and helping smooth lifetime welfare (something that’s not just for the poor). But empirically it is also true when it comes to the aims of preventing poverty and reducing inequality, as I wrote in The Coalition and Universalism earlier this year. Universal entitlements funded through progressive taxation are an effective way of distributing across the income distribution. They even turn out to be better at preventing poverty, since they build solidarity so that people are more tolerant of pro-poor spending. But of course universalism is not cheap. All other things being equal it costs much more than targeted welfare. So the question for the long-term is when do we want universalism and can we afford? Despite all the recent cuts over the next half century welfare in the UK will become more universal, for the simple reason that most of our old-age welfare is universal and most of our working-age welfare is means-tested. According to the Office of Budget Responsibility spending on the state pension system will rise from 43% of welfare spending in 2010 to around 56% in the 2060s (by when more of the pension system will also be universal). This shift back towards universalism is welcome, but it does beg the question whether a move on this scale should be planned rather more coherently. Shouldn’t we rationally design a blended universal/targeted system rather than just let today’s mess evolve chaotically? In particular, can we develop policy for different age-groups in the round? Our current policies lock the UK on a two-track welfare future, with old-age welfare looking in pretty good shape and working-age welfare a total disaster. Looking at pensions first, over the last decade politicians from all parties have signed-up to a long-term system which looks rational, generous and affordable. The Turner Commission reforms along with subsequent refinements will have the effect of reducing poverty, incentivising work and saving, and improving lifetime income-smoothing across the income distribution. There are three key reasons why the pension reforms are likely to succeed: they rationally combine public and private systems; the state contribution is mainly through a universal entitlement; and the settlement will maintain itself over time because payments are indexed to earnings. These important reforms have a price of course. Spending on the state pension system will rise by around 3% of GDP from 2020 to 2060, reflecting the costs of the reforms as well as the large size of the baby boom generation (rising costs aren’t affected by increasing life expectancy, which are now more or less offset by planned rises in the State Pension Age). Whether you think this extra spending is affordable is probably down to your politics (although the Office of Budget Responsibility suggests it can be paid for by very modest tax rises or spending cuts elsewhere). The alternatives to stumping-up don’t look pretty however: either much poorer pensioners or diverting a lot more of the family budget to saving. None of this means that old-age provision is perfect or that every single example of universal entitlement should be a timeless feature of the welfare state. With pensioners growing richer and working-age families bearing the brunt of austerity it is reasonable to debate boundaries. But items like the Winter Fuel Payment and free bus travel make up only a small percentage of old-age welfare spending. It is the overall design principles of the state pension system that matter and must be conserved. Indeed we should consider how similar thinking can be applied to working-age benefits. The next phase of welfare reform should take the best of what has been achieved for pensioners and apply it to everyone else. Above all that means more universalism and sustainable indexation. Indexation is a dry topic, but over decades it makes a huge difference to people’s wellbeing. Since the 1980s the main welfare benefits have only kept up with prices, with earnings racing ahead by half as much again. By 2007 basic benefit for a single adult was worth just 15% of average earnings, compared to 24% in 1981. This has helped to widen inequalities and entrench poverty, especially amongst people out of work without children. As a consequence, if current policies continue, the OBR projects that spending on working-age welfare will halve from 6% of GDP today to roughly 3% of GDP in twenty years’ time. Far from the welfare budget spiralling out of control, the problem is that policies will lead to the shrinking of welfare spending at great human cost. If policy makers were to agree that spending on working-age welfare should remain roughly constant as a share of the economy over time, we could then have a rational debate on how to use the two or three per cent of GDP that we can expect to gradually become available. It could be devoted simply to re-indexing benefits to earnings (not simply in the rare years when earnings fall behind prices, but for good). However there are other good calls on any extra welfare spending that would compete for any extra money. First of all, too little money has been allocated to Universal Credit to achieve its objective of ‘making work pay’. The entitlement offers very poor incentives for second earners to go to work and for anyone with moderate or high childcare costs. Improving this situation implies a more generous and expensive system that stretches much further up the earnings distribution, making Universal Credit more like the original conception of tax credits. The logic of ‘work incentives’ is a return to a far less targeted, semi-universal system (what Gordon Brown called ‘progressive universalism’ and Harriet Harman ‘affluence testing’). Or we could spend more on full-blown universalism. Working-age universal entitlements have been amongst the worst hit areas of welfare – take for instance child benefit, personal independence payment and contributory employment and support allowance. With universalism being chipped away, it feels like it’s time to go back to first principles: we should consider how to design universal entitlements that best advance the aims of welfare, at the most affordable price. To my mind the top priorities are support with the costs of childcare and more generous state insurance when people lose their jobs through unemployment and disability. From next year the maximum most people with a working partner or savings can expect from the state is £1,900 for unemployment or £5,200 for being out of work through ill-health – not much at a time of crisis after a working life spent paying national insurance. Achieving both fair indexation and more universalism won’t be affordable without saving money somewhere. However, the best hope for combining stable levels of spending with rational and humane long-term policies lies in economic reform not cuts. After all, unlike with pensions, much of working-age welfare is a cost of economic ‘failure’, such as involuntary worklessness, excessive housing costs and poverty pay. Billions could be saved by addressing these problems at source. The key question is whether policies can be identified which will achieve a reordering of the economy without damaging prospects for growth. This debate is gathering momentum in Labour circles and is discussed in the recent Fabian book, The Shape of Things to Come. In the short run the discussion is couched in terms of ‘savings without cuts’ but we should also plan ahead to a time after the deficit is closed. Then the aim can be to keep the share of GDP spent on working-age welfare stable and plough back savings from reduced economic failure into new or more generous entitlements. To make any of this happen, however, Labour must now start to embrace economic reforms of sufficient magnitude to have a material effect on welfare spending. A substantial rise in the national minimum wage and action to contain spiralling rents should come first.

Avon and Wiltshire mental health trust appoints new chief executive

Avon and Wiltshire mental health trust appoints new chief executive EXCELLENT NEWS FOR AWP A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION I THINK FROM THE BBC A mental health trust which was criticised over staffing levels during a recent restructuring has appointed a new chief executive. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) aired concerns over Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health NHS Trust in the summer. It said it had "serious concerns" about the number of people failing to get treatment during the restructure. Iain Tulley will join the trust from Devon Partnership NHS Trust in mid-November. Mr Tulley has been a chief executive for more than a decade and has worked in healthcare for 30 years. The CQC report found that the trust did protect people from abuse, but that there were not enough staff to keep people safe and meet their health and welfare needs. "There were insufficient qualified, skilled experienced staff to meet people's needs," the report said. The trust was also criticised in a separate report earlier in the year after killings in Swindon by patients in its care in 2007. Timothy Crook battered his elderly parents Bob and Elsie to death, and Carl James, 21, was killed by his schizophrenic friend Michael Harris. The trust said some of the problems identified in the CQC report had been resolved and that redesigned services "would bring benefits". It added the "major redesign of community services" caused "short-term problems". Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Trust provides specialist mental health services across Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire.

NHS and Charities

Mikey (@Mjab1616) tweeted at 9:06 AM on Thu, Oct 11, 2012: Where do NHS reforms leave charities? http://t.co/AwHGDS3 via @guardian (https://twitter.com/Mjab1616/status/256304851108114432) Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download

Excellent MH article

A fantastic article from The Guardian Newspaper

http://gu.com/p/3aybh

Ritalin drug should only be used in severe cases, says doctor - Health - The Star

Excellent article , well worth a read !

Ritalin drug should only be used in severe cases, says doctor - Health - The Star

One of the very BEST - Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

One of the very BEST - Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Well done AWP great to see some good news .

Mentally ill in custody reviewed

The following article comes from the BBC NEWS site, really I think we need a fundamental review of this issue in all UK police forces.

Mentally ill in custody reviewed

Care Regulator Chair to resign

Care regulator chair to resign

Well after the recent events we documented in the national press this comes as no great surprise.