Mental health report finds staffing problems linked to ward suicides
Suicidal patients who are under observation may be put at risk by relying on inexperienced staff and agency nurses, according to a new report issued today.
Resist Tory lies over benefits as day of action fights against sanctions
I’m waiting for a letter, and it’s terrifying. Like thousands of other people hit by the bedroom tax and other benefit cuts, I rely on a discretionary housing payment (DHP) from the council.
But these are all up for renewal in April—and the government has slashed the total amount by £40 million.
Disabled People Against Cuts hold day of action to minimise Maximus
There were protests outside 31 Maximus offices and assessment centres across Britain on Monday of this week, as it began testing sick and disabled claimants of ESA benefit.
The “work capability assessments” were carried out by Atos until last year when it pulled out after widespread protests.
Mental health service budgets ‘cut by 8%’
Mental health trusts in England have seen their budgets fall by more than 8% in real terms over the course of this parliament, figures suggest.
The reduction, worth almost £600m, was revealed through research by BBC News and the online journal Community Care.
Mental health social work fast-track scheme backed by £1.6m of government funding
A training scheme to fast-track graduates into mental health social work will be backed by £1.6m of government funding next year, care minister Norman Lamb is expected to announce tonight.
The Think Ahead programme will use the money to fund its operational costs in 2015-16. Costs include recruiting students, designing the academic curriculum, and developing a leadership training element for the scheme.
Mental health campaigner Becki Luscombe killed herself at psychiatric unit in Sparkhill
A mental health campaigner who convinced supermarkets to withdraw offensive Halloween ‘mental patient’ costumes from their stores killed herself at a psychiatric unit, an inquest has found.
Work by Rebecca Luscombe, known as Becki, went national in 2013 when she successfully started a Twitter campaign which resulted in the outfits being taken off supermarket shelves.
ManVCam: Protesters prepare for Albert Square government cuts rally
Manchester celebrities Shaun Ryder, Terry Christian, Rowetta and Claire Mooney are to lead hundreds of protesters in a rally against ‘appalling’ coalition cuts that have affected the city.
The Mancunian icons will lead crowds in what they are calling a ‘smart rally’— an emulation of the pro democracy demonstrations that took place in Hong Kong back in September 2014.
NHS mental health care ‘pushed to breaking point by lack of beds’
The lack of acute beds available to mental health patients has left the system at breaking point, the Royal College of Psychiatrists has said.
Illustrating the scale of the problem, the college said it understood that on one occasion last year there were no beds available for adults in England. It called for action to tackle the problem.
The college president, Simon Wessely, said: “There is mounting evidence – such as the doubling of the number of patients having to be sent out-of-area for care between 2011/12-2013/14 – that there are simply not enough mental health beds available in some areas.
Mental health workers must recognise they are only human to prevent burnout, finds study
All the self-care in the world won’t prevent burnout unless mental health workers stop trying to be superhuman and accept their vulnerabilities, an Australian researcher told Community Care.
Marieke Ledingham, a lecturer in counselling at the University of Notre-Dame, Australia, conducted research with 55 mental health workers to find out why they were suffering burnout in such large numbers, despite understanding its causes.
Suicides highlight the grim toll of benefits sanctions in austerity Britain
Less than two years ago, 50-year-old David tried to take his own life in a council house in Salford. You can still see the scars when he stretches out his arm to light a roll-up cigarette.
“Everything just builds up after a while. I was walking around thinking where I was going to get money from, what [was] I going to do about the kids, how was I going to survive?” says David, as his two daughters sit quietly next to him on the sofa. “I’ve been through the bins and all sorts, trying to make ends meet. I’m not proud of it, but needs must at times.”
