Modernising the Mental Health Act – final report from the independent review

Modernising the Mental Health Act – final report from the independent review The Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983 has set out recommendations for government on how the Act and associated practice needs to change.

The final report sets out recommendations covering 4 principles that the review believes should underpin the reformed Act:

• choice and autonomy – ensuring service users’ views and choices are respected
• least restriction – ensuring the Act’s powers are used in the least restrictive way
• therapeutic benefit – ensuring patients are supported to get better, so they can be discharged from the Act
• people as individuals – ensuring patients are viewed and treated as rounded individuals

The review looked at rising rates of detention under the Act, the disproportionate number of people from black and minority ethnic groups detained under the Act and the processes that are out of step with a modern mental health care system. Department of Health and Social Care

See also:

• Government commits to reform the Mental Health Act Department of Health and Social Care
• CQC response to the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act Care Quality Commission
• Centre for Mental Health welcomes Mental Health Act Review report Centre for Mental Health
• Response to independent review on Mental Health Act Local Government Association
• Mental Health Act review recommendations published Mind
• Recommendations for change Rethink Mental Illness
• Investment in mental health crucial but significant staffing gaps will make this difficult says RCN Chief Executive Royal College of Nursing
• RCPsych respond to the Mental Health Act Review Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Mental health: The NHS patients who are 'abused and ignored' BBC News
• Mentally ill patients being treated like criminals, head of review warns The Daily Telegraph
• Mental health patients 'should be given more rights over treatment' The Guardian
• 'Outdated' Mental Health Act Must Give Power Back To Patients, Says Review Huffington Post UK
• Mental Health Act ‘needs major reform’ as black patients four times as likely as whites to be sectioned The Independent
• Major investment needed to improve care for mental health patients – report ITV News
• Sectioning is 'traumatic' and 'damaging' for society's most vulnerable people - report Sky News

Tear down barriers to end nursing degree apprenticeship 'mirage' say MPs

Tear down barriers to end nursing degree apprenticeship 'mirage' say MPs Nursing degree apprenticeships as a successful and sustainable route into the profession will forever be a mirage unless barriers to delivery are torn down, say the Education Committee in its report on Nursing apprenticeships.

The Committee warns that the uptake of nursing degree apprenticeships has been far too slow with no more than 30 starters beginning training through the scheme last year. The Committee argues there is no evidence of how the Department for Education intends to meet the target of 400 nursing associates progressing to degree apprenticeships from 2019.

See also:

• Education Committee’s report highlights ‘serious disincentive’ for nursing degree apprenticeships NHS Employers 

The UK has sequenced 100,000 whole genomes in the NHS

The UK has sequenced 100,000 whole genomes in the NHS Pioneering 100,000 Genomes Project reaches its goal and thanks all involved

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has today announced that the 100,000 Genomes Project, led by Genomics England in partnership with NHS England, has reached its goal of sequencing 100,000 whole genomes from NHS patients.

See also:

• Foreign cyber-criminals try to hack into top-security database of 85,000 NHS patients’ genetic profiles revealing EVERYTHING about their health amid fears data could be used for blackmail The Daily Mail
• Foreign hackers have tried to access the genetic blueprints of thousands of NHS patients, say officials The Daily Telegraph
• Project to sequence 100000 genomes from NHS patients hits target The Pharmaceutical Journal

Loneliness in children and young people

Loneliness in children and young people Prevalence of reported loneliness in children and young people for various socio-demographic characteristics, England and Great Britain. Office for National Statistics

See also:

• Loneliness is a key risk factor for the future health of young people The Health Foundation
• National Measurement of Loneliness: 2018 Office for National Statistics
• Girls 'more likely to face loneliness' BBC News
• One in ten children feel lonely, with youngsters who get free school meals, and live in big cities more likely to be unhappy, study finds The Daily Mail
• City children four times more lonely than those in countryside, finds study The Daily Telegraph

The carers’ covenant

The carers’ covenant This report calls for a new settlement between the state and informal carers. It is estimated there are now almost eight million informal carers in the UK making the informal care economy equivalent to £139 billion – more than seven times the UK’s total annual spend on adult social care. The report sets out an overhaul of current policy, including the introduction of a new Universal Carer’s Income for all carers providing more than 35 hours a week. Demos

Help at home: use of assistive technology for older people

Help at home: use of assistive technology for older people This review presents a selection of recent research on assistive technology for older people funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and other government funders. The review focuses on research around the use of technology in the home, remote monitoring systems and designing better environments for older people.

How do people access and experience home adaptations? Perspectives from people in later life and practitioners

How do people access and experience home adaptations? Perspectives from people in later life and practitioners This report summarises the findings from recent research conducted on the lived experiences of home adaptations. It draws on the views of both people in later life and practitioners to explore the home adaptations journey, including triggers, access, installation and outcomes. Housing Local Improvement Network

One in three children 'not active enough', finds sport survey

One in three children 'not active enough', finds sport survey One in three children in England does fewer than 30 minutes of physical activity a day - half the amount recommended by government guidelines, a report by Sport England suggests.

Girls are less likely to be as active as boys, with 13 to 16-year-olds the least active age group.

The online survey of 130,000 five to 16-year-olds found children from poorer families did least exercise.

Sports Minister Mims Davies said the figures were "simply unacceptable". BBC News

'Hostile' St George's Hospital surgeons had to seek mediation

'Hostile' St George's Hospital surgeons had to seek mediation Feuding surgeons at a troubled cardiac unit worked in a culture of hostility, tribalism and mistrust, inspectors say.

Complex heart operations were moved out of London's St George's Hospital in September after a leaked document revealed a "toxic" row had contributed to an above average death rate.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said mediation worked only briefly, with "poor behaviour" soon returning.

The trust said its cardiac surgery was safe and improvements had been made. BBC News

NHS needs 10,000 extra hospital beds this winter to keep patients safe, BMA warns

NHS needs 10,000 extra hospital beds this winter to keep patients safe, BMA warns The NHS has been warned it needs 10,000 additional hospital beds this winter in order to keep patients safe.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said the approaching winter period "could be the worst on record" for emergency departments, which are predicted to see an increase in patients and longer waiting times.

New analysis from the doctors' union suggests between January and March next year, the total number of emergency hospital admissions will rise to more than 1.6 million from 1.5 million this year. The Independent

Myths about migrants spreading disease 'inform hostile policies'

Myths about migrants spreading disease 'inform hostile policies' Report says migrants more likely to contribute than to damage health of host nations

Myths that migrants are responsible for spreading disease and a burden to health services have been used in support of the hostile and restrictive policies introduced in the US, UK and elsewhere around the world, a two-year commission has concluded.

The commission of 20 experts, set up by University College London and the Lancet medical journal, started work as Brexit became all-consuming in the UK and the US president, Donald Trump, stepped up border controls and demanded a wall between the US and Mexico. But the rhetoric that migration damages health and healthcare has been around for a long time – and is wrong, said the chair of the group, Prof Ibrahim Abubakar from UCL. The Guardian

See also:

• ‘Myths’ of immigrants putting pressure on NHS with health issues and high birth rates debunked in report The Independent

A ‘volunteer army’ is no substitute for the doctors and nurses the NHS needs

A ‘volunteer army’ is no substitute for the doctors and nurses the NHS needs | Hannah Jane Parkinson It is admirable that people want to help our health service, but the shrunken state needs to do far more too

When is a record number of people volunteering to help the NHS not as great as it seems? Perhaps when the health system is teetering on the brink. Volunteering loses a bit of that feelgood factor when the stakes are as high as this.

The Daily Mail has launched a Christmas campaign for more volunteers to help out, reporting that 11,000 people have signed up in a matter of days. This kind of volunteering is mostly a good and valuable thing. A study by the King’s Fund thinktank of 300 NHS staff, reflecting on the roles of the current 78,000 volunteers, found that a third of staff said that volunteers helped them to free up time and a quarter said that volunteers helped care for patients.


Now, thanks to Brexit, we are both losing these skilled practitioners and putting them off joining in the first place. The Guardian

Infant milk allergy rate soars as investigation finds senior child doctors have extensive industry links

Infant milk allergy rate soars as investigation finds senior child doctors have extensive industry links The rate of babies diagnosed with milk allergies has risen 500 per cent in a decade due to links between the formula industry and doctors, an investigation suggests.

Experts warn that the health of infants and their mothers is being harmed and rates of breastfeeding damaged thanks to over-broad diagnostic criteria drawn up with the help of vested interests. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Overdiagnosis and industry influence: how cow’s milk protein allergy is extending the reach of infant formula manufacturers The BMJ
• Babies are being wrongly diagnosed with milk allergies because of the influence of the baby formula industry study finds The Daily Mail