Mental health under pressure

"There is a clear need for mental health services to focus on using evidence to improve practice and reduce variations in care. However, it is essential that this is underpinned by stable funding, with no more cuts to budgets." 

Mental health under pressure
H Gilburt
The King's Fund
November 2015

Read more here.

Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Guidance and support for local areas

"The report sets out a clear national ambition to transform the design and delivery of a local offer of services for children and young people with mental health needs."

Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Guidance and support for local areas
NHS England
August 2015

Read more here.

Using league tables to reduce missed dose medication errors on mental healthcare of older people wards

"By greatly reducing the risk of patients experiencing adverse drug events as a result of missed doses, this project has given rise to a potential cost-saving of around £34,000 per year across the wards studied. "

Using league tables to reduce missed dose medication errors on mental healthcare of older people wards
A Cottney
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204237.w3567

Read more here.

Mental Health Staffing Framework

"Mental Health Staffing: A Practical Guide has been developed as part of the ‘Compassion in Practice programme’ led by NHS England. It is based around standards set by the National Quality Board and is expected to inform national Mental Health programmes of work "

Mental Health Staffing Framework
Health Education West Midlands
NHS England
June 2015

Read more here.

Mental health crisis care review

Two reports have been published following a review of mental health crisis services. The reports consider aspects of quality, safety and effectiveness, as well as patient experience.

Mental health crisis review – experiences of black and minority ethnic communities
Jeraj, Samir, Shoham, Tara and Islam-Barrett, Farah
Race Equality Foundation
June 2015

Access the report here.

Right here, right now: Mental health crisis care review
Care Quality Commission
June 2015

Access the report here.

Interventions designed to improve therapeutic communications between black and minority ethnic people and professionals working in psychiatric services

"Black and minority ethnic patients in contact with psychiatric services tend to have less than optimal experiences and outcomes. This report presents the findings of a detailed review of research into interventions to improve communications between black and minority ethnic patients and professionals working in psychiatric services in order to benefit patients’ mental health."

Interventions designed to improve therapeutic communications between black and minority ethnic people and professionals working in psychiatric services: a systematic review of the evidence for their effectiveness
K Bhui, RW Aslam, A Palinski, R McCabe, MR Johnson,S Weich, et al.
Health Technology Assessment 2015;19(31)

Read more here.

Psychological Medicine in Bart’s: improving access and awareness

"a large number of general hospital patients have a mental disorder, mental ill health impedes recovery from physical illness and mental disorders are often unrecognised in patients with physical illness. By improving the quality of our liaison service we hope that we can achieve better integration within the medical teams and thus tackle the aforementioned problems."

Psychological Medicine in Bart’s: improving access and awareness
A Pavlidou
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206661.w2871

Read more here.

Improving mental health services for young people

"The report sets out how much of this can be achieved through better working between the NHS, local authorities, voluntary and community services, schools and other local services. It also makes it clear that many of these changes can be achieved by working differently, rather than needing significant investment."

Improving mental health services for young people
Department of Health
March 2015

Read more here.

Choice of provider and team in mental health care

"This guidance has been developed with colleagues from across the mental health sector. It seeks to promote a common understanding of what mental health patients’ legal rights are, where they apply, and what they mean in everyday practice. It should enable consistency in the application of these rights, while also acknowledging the need for clinical judgments and decisions according to the circumstances of individual patients."

GUIDANCE:Choice of provider and team in mental health care
The NHS Constitution
NHS England
December 2014

Read more here.

The reconfiguration of clinical services

"This paper aims to help those planning and implementing major clinical service reconfigurations ensure that change is as evidence-based as possible. It investigates the five key drivers – quality, workforce, cost, access and technology"

The reconfiguration of clinical services: What is the evidence?
C Imison, L Sonola, M Honeyman, S Ross
The King's Fund
November 2014

Read more here.

How to commission better mental health and wellbeing services for young people

"In this guide, we will consider how commissioners can add value at each stage of the commissioning process to ensure that the most appropriate services are procured to address the mental health needs of young people aged 16–25."

How to commission better mental health and wellbeing services for young people
Right Here (Mental Health Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation)
October 2014

Read more here.

Community mental health survey 2014

"While there were some positive findings, particularly for questions asking about contact with staff, survey results show that improvements are needed across many other areas asked about in the questionnaire. This includes:

communication and information.
reviewing care.
involvement in decisions.
support and understanding with other areas of life."

Community mental health survey 2014
Care Quality Commission

Read more here.

The experience of engaging with mental health services among young people who hear voices and their families

"Whilst the survey showed that some young people and their families had more positive experiences, many expressed dissatisfaction. To fulfil the needs of young people and their families, mental health services would benefit from developing alternative approaches to voice hearing and running support groups that could form part of a ‘normalising’ and ‘holistic care’ package."

The experience of engaging with mental health services among young people who hear voices and their families: a mixed methods exploratory study
P Kapur, D Hayes, R Waddingham, S Hillman, J Deighton, N Midgley
BMC Health Services Research 2014, 14:527

Read more here

Achieving better access to mental health services by 2020

"The introduction of new standards, new payment and new commissioning regimes will drive a much richer set of data about the quality and performance of services for all ages and the outcomes achieved. Much more relevant data, open to patients, the public, providers and commissioners will help to drive improvement and expose and then eradicate unacceptably long waits for treatment."

Achieving better access to mental health services by 2020
NHS England, Department of Health
August 2014

Read more here.

London CCGs map out future of mental health commissioning

"A leadership programme to help London CCG mental health leads commission more effectively was the result of a major collaborative effort, writes Stefanie Radford and colleagues"

London CCGs map out future of mental health commissioning
S Radford, A Moore, P Fonagy, P Ilves, G Strathdee, G Monks
Health Service Journal
July 2014

Read more here.

Interim guidance: choice of provider in mental health

"This document sets out interim guidance to help commissioners, GPs and providers implement the new (1 April 2014) legal right for patients to choose any clinically appropriate provider of mental health services upon referral for a patient’s first outpatient appointment." 

Interim guidance: Implementing patients’ right to choose any clinically appropriate provider of mental health services

NHS England

May 2014 

Read more here.

Managing patients with complex needs

"The main conclusion is that the service improves health outcomes and leads to a reduction in health service use in both primary and secondary care settings. The financial savings from reduced service use are equivalent to about a third of PCPCS treatment costs."

Managing patients with complex needs: Evaluation of the City and Hackney Primary Care Psychotherapy Consultation Service
M Parsonage, E Hard, B Rock
Centre for Mental Health
March 2014

Read more here.

Mental Healthwatch handbook

"This handbook provides information on how Healthwatch can help improve mental health with a range of partners including central government, service users, comissioners, providers, the voluntary sector and councils."

Mental Healthwatch handbook: Improving mental health with your community
National Survivor User Network
April 2014

Read more here.

Closing the gap: priorities for essential change in mental health

"High-quality mental health services with an emphasis on recovery should be commissioned in all areas, reflecting local need."

Closing the gap: priorities for essential change in mental health
Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnership Directorate
Department of Health
January 2014

Read more here.

The challenge of change in acute mental health services

"VOCALISE can be used to explore staff perceptions of implementation climate and to assess how staff attitudes shape the successful outcomes of planned changes."

The challenge of change in acute mental health services: measuring staff perceptions of barriers to change and their relationship to job status and satisfaction using a new measure (VOCALISE)
C Laker, F Callard, C Flach, P Williams, J Sayer, T Wykes
Implementation Science, 2014, 9:23

Read more here.