Mental health patients and police face ‘scandalous’ wait for treatment

Mental health patients and police face ‘scandalous’ wait for treatment

“Scandalous” waits to get mental health patients access to treatment are letting down vulnerable people and wasting police resources, an MP said.

A Freedom of Information request by Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb found some patients detained by police faced long waits for doctors, beds or ambulances.

The Mental Patients Union, 1973

The Mental Patients Union, 1973

The Mental Patients Union (MPU), in the early 1970s, could probably be seen as the first service user involvement movement. Founder member Andrew Roberts described the Union’s genesis:

Mental health problems are everyone’s problem Prime Minister Theresa May gives speech on shared society, the government’s role within it and how to transform mental health support

Mental health problems are everyone’s problem. As a society we must face up to that fact. And the announcements I am making today will ensure we do just that.

Mental health problems are everyone’s problem Prime Minister Theresa May gives speech on shared society, the government’s role within it and how to transform mental health support

  The Prime Minister wrote for the Huffington Post about a new approach to mental health support.   It is a tragic fact that 1 in 10 children in this country has a diagnosable mental health condition. The long-term effects can be crippling: children with behavioural disorders are 4 times more likely to be dependent […]

NHS mental health services failing young people, say psychiatrists

Seven in 10 psychiatrists deem Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to be inadequate at best, Guardian survey finds

NHS mental health services failing young people, say psychiatrists

BY: Denis Campbell Health policy editor   NHS services for the soaring numbers of children who have self-harmed, tried to end their life or are having a breakdown are woefully substandard and risk prolonging their suffering, according to their psychiatrists. More than seven out of 10 (72%) consultant psychiatrists who specialise in treating children and adolescents […]

Poor employer support ‘adding to strain’ on mental health teams

All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Work calls on employers to step up efforts to improve wellbeing of mental health social workers

Poor employer support ‘adding to strain’ on mental health teams

by Rachel Carter Photo: Time to Change   Social workers in mental health services are being placed under increasing stress but left without adequate support for their own wellbeing, according to a new report. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Work called on employers to produce explicit plans for improved mental health support for […]

Statement condemns the impact of welfare transformation and austerity on the lives of some of the most vulnerable communities in Britain

Statement condemns the impact of welfare transformation and austerity on the lives of some of the most vulnerable communities in Britain

Historic social work meeting agrees joint approach to safeguard and promote a valuable profession:

A meeting of UK social work organisations has agreed to campaign collectively to safeguard their valuable profession.

Lessons to be learned from Caribbean treatment of mental health

With Caribbean people in the UK nine times more likely than white British counterparts to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, a University of Manchester mental health researcher has visited Jamaica and Barbados to find out what lessons can be learned.