NHS operation productivity: unwarranted variations: mental health services and community services.

This review, carried out by Lord Carter, examines the productivity and efficiency of mental health and community health services. It identifies unwarranted variation in the delivery of the services, as well as potential savings of nearly £1 billion that could be made in efficiencies by 2020/21. It makes 16 recommendations to improve productivity and enable the benefits to be reinvested in improving quality and access to care. Click here for link to full report

NHS met unpredecented patient demand last year

Despite experiencing the worst winter in a decade, frontline NHS staff and managers have risen to the challenge and cared for more patients than ever before. However, this surge in demand has affected the NHS’s performance in key areas, such as waiting times and its reliance on temporary workers. For link to full NHS report click here

Cognitive training reduces depression, rebuilds injured brain structure and connectivity after traumatic brain injury

New research shows that certain cognitive training exercises can help reduce depression and improve brain health in individuals years after they have suffered a traumatic brain injury. Read ScienceDaily post here

Psychological Distress Linked to Internal Goal Conflict

New research finds that when our personal goals are divergent, leaving us torn as to which path to pursue, psychological stress can result. Click here for Psychcentral article

Why do we get old and sick?

Why do we get old and sick? Raj Persaud talks to Professor Volter Longo about his new book 'The Longevity Diet.' Click here for rcpsych podcast

The Fifteen Steps Challenge – Quality from a patient's perspective: An mental health toolkit

This document, focusing on the mental health inpatient healthcare setting, is part of a suite of toolkits for The Fifteen Steps Challenge, which helps to explore patient experience and are a way of involving patients, carers and families in quality assurance processes. Click here for document

Mental health statistics for England: prevalance, services and funding

How common are mental health problems? How long do people wait to access therapy for depression and anxiety? Do mental health services work for everyone? How much is spent on mental health services? Click here for link

After a diagnosis of dementia: what to expect from health and care services

This document is for anyone diagnosed with dementia and the people who care for them. It has details about what support they should get. Click here for link

Getting my life back: occupational therapy promoting mental health and wellbeing

About one in six people experience a common mental health problem each week and over 85% of people first disclose their problem to their GP. Despite this only 5% of mental health professionals, such as occupational therapists, work in GP services, with the majority of mental health services based in secondary and acute care. This makes services difficult for people to access when difficulties first become apparent. Click here for link

The most effective antidepressants for adults revealed in major review

The review provides new evidence which may help people decide which antidepressant to choose first-line for moderate to severe depression. However, it did not assess antidepressants compared to other treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy, or treatments in combination. Though there are some concerns over items not reported by individual trials, this review is likely to be reliable. It is extensive, included only controlled double blind trials and searched successfully for unpublished trials. Click here for link

Carer support and involvement in secure mental health services.

This toolkit aims to provide clear information for carers, service users, service providers and commissioners about how carers of people who use secure mental health services should be engaged with, supported, involved and empowered. Click for link here

Problem Parental Drug And Alcohol Use: A Toolkit For Local Authorities

This toolkit has been developed for commissioners of alcohol and drug services and will also be useful to commissioners of children and family services. It helps commissioners to understand the extent of problem parental alcohol and drug use in their area and how this can impact on children aged between 0 and 18 in the same household. Click here to see King's Fund blog

Gardening experts team up with NHS over mental health projects

Gardening experts are teaming up with the NHS to promote the positive impact horticulture can have for people’s mental health. Read news item here

Major new initiative seeks to reduce physical health inequalities for people with mental health problems

A major new initiative to tackle one of the biggest health inequalities was launched today by Centre for Mental Health, Kaleidoscope Health and Care and Rethink Mental Illness in collaboration with more than 20 professional organisations, charities and health service bodies across the country. Read Centre for Mental Health news here

Dementia-Friendly Rural Communities Guide

Rural communities have an important part to play in tackling the social and economic impact of dementia, by supporting people living with dementia to be part of their local community. This guide gives best practice advice on how to create a dementia-friendly community in rural areas and shares successful case studies from across the country. Click here to read Kings Fund Blog

Older, Poor Adults at Greater Risk of Dementia

Older adults living in poverty have an increased risk of developing dementia, according to a new U.K. study published in JAMA Psychiatry. Read PsycheCentral blog here

Mental Health Nurses Have The Power To Save Lives

I developed anorexia when I was 12 years old and I was brilliant at it. I became the master of deception, lying to my friends and family for four years. I got sucked in to this cycle where anorexia would give me the value I needed, this sense of purpose that I wasn’t getting from anywhere else. That voice it my head became like my best friend, reassuring me all the time and making life okay. Read blog from HuffPost here

Suicide prevention and reduction

The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health set out clear recommendations on suicide prevention and reduction, and made a commitment to reduce suicides by 10% nationally by 2020/21. Alongside this, Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt announced a zero suicide ambition for mental health inpatients in January of this year. Read news item from NHS England by clicking here

Occupational therapy and complexity: defining and describing practice

Occupational therapy and complexity: defining and describing practice - the long awaited publication being launched at the RCOT Annual Conference - is now available for pre-order. Click here for details

The five DOs and DON’Ts of talking about mental health

Author and mental health writer Lucy Nichol tells us: "Mental illness does not discriminate"
There’s been tonnes in the media about mental health stigma. The Time To Change campaign is fighting it, mental health warriors are out in full force, Denise Welch is calling out Piers Morgan, Harry, Wills and Kate gave the Heads Together campaign the royal seal of approval and the whole damn world is screaming ‘say no to stigma, kids!’ Or so it seems…Read NME blog here

Stress: are we coping?

This report looks at the prevalence of stress in the UK and its implications. It also focuses on what people can do to manage and reduce stress and sets out recommendations for the government in creating a stress-free UK. Click here for link to report

RCOT calls for prevention and early intervention in mental health services with new report

Getting My Life Back: Occupational therapy promoting mental health and wellbeing is published
Against a backdrop of increasing pressures on mental health services, a new report from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) highlights the importance of prevention and early intervention in tackling mental health issues. Read RCOT article here

Stressed nation: 74% of UK 'overwhelmed or unable to cope' at some point in the past year

A UK-wide stress survey has found that almost three quarters of adults (74%) have at some point over the past year felt so stressed they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope. Click here to see Mental Health Foundation article

UK universities call for joined-up mental health care for students

Mental health services are failing to adequately support students when they leave home and move to university, allowing them to fall through the gaps at a time of increased vulnerability and stressful new pressures, according to research. Read newspaper article here

Keys to Boosting Quality of Life for People with Dementia

In a new analysis, researchers identify the key factors associated with a better quality of life in people with dementia. The findings are published in the journal Psychological Medicine. Read PsychCentral article here

The Government’s Green Paper On Mental Health: Failing A Generation

This report, written with the Education Select Committee, argues that the Government's proposed green paper on children and young people's mental health lacks ambition and will provide no help to the majority of those children who need it. Click here to see Kings Fund blog

UHCW publication: Safety and feasibility evaluation of tourniquets for total knee replacement (SAFE-TKR): study protocol

Safety and feasibility evaluation of tourniquets for total knee replacement (SAFE-TKR): study protocol
Wall, Peter Dh; Ahmed, Imran; Metcalfe, Andrew; Price, Andrew J; Seers, Kate; et al. BMJ Open Vol. 8, Iss. 4,  (April 10, 2018): e022067.

This study is designed to determine whether a full randomised controlled trial (RCT) examining the clinical effectiveness and safety of total knee replacement surgery with or without a tourniquet is warranted and feasible.


Get full text at http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/4/e022067

Some Antipsychotics Tied to Greater Risk of Gestational Diabetes

A new study finds that women who continue taking the atypical antipsychotic drugs olanzapine (Zyprexa) and quetiapine (Seroquel) during pregnancy are at an increased risk for gestational diabetes. The findings are published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Click here to read PsychCentral article

NHS England pledges specialist mental health services for new mums in every part of the country

NHS England has confirmed that new and expectant mums will be able to access specialist perinatal mental health community services in every part of the country by April next year. Click here to view NHS England webpage

New Processing Technique Helps Researchers Use Electronic Health Records to Study Biological Contributors to Mental Illnesses

Researchers have found a way to scan electronic health records (EHRs) that helps identify associations between broad dimensions of behavioral function and genes relevant to mental disorders. Click here to see National Institute of  Mental Health article

Brain stimulation reduces suicidal thinking in people with hard-to-treat depression

A specific kind of brain stimulation is effective in reducing suicidal thinking in a significant portion of people with hard-to-treat depression, according to a new study. Forty per cent of people in the study reported that they no longer experienced suicidal thoughts after receiving bilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Click here for ScienceDaily article

Blue Book on the Management of Distal Radial Fractures

British Society for Surgery of the Hand publishes its Blue Book on the Management of Distal Radial Fractures


UHCW Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Helen Hedley and Electronic Systems & Resources Librarian Helga Perry contributed to this publication.


Obtain the full document at: http://www.bssh.ac.uk/_userfiles/pages/files/professionals/Radius/Blue%20Book%20DRF%20Final%20Document.pdf

UHCW publication: Prevalence of cam hip shape morphology: a systematic review.

Prevalence of cam hip shape morphology: a systematic review.
Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2016 Jun;24(6):949-61
Dickenson E, Wall PD, Robinson B, Fernandez M, Parsons H, Buchbinder R, Griffin DR


ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Cam hip shape morphology is a recognised cause of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and is associated with hip osteoarthritis. Our aim was to systematically review the available epidemiological evidence assessing the prevalence of cam hip shape morphology in the general population and any studied subgroups including subjects with and without hip pain. DESIGN: All studies that reported the prevalence of cam morphology, measured by alpha angles, in subjects aged 18 and over, irrespective of study population or presence of hip symptoms were considered for inclusion. We searched AMED, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and CENTRAL in October 2015. Two authors independently identified eligible studies and assessed risk of bias. We planned to pool data of studies considered clinically homogenous. RESULTS: Thirty studies met inclusion criteria. None of the included studies were truly population-based: three included non-representative subgroups of the general population, 19 included differing clinical populations, while eight included professional athletes. All studies were judged to be at high risk of bias. Due to substantial clinical heterogeneity meta analysis was not possible. Across all studies, the prevalence estimates of cam morphology ranged from 5 to 75% of participants affected. We were unable to demonstrate a higher prevalence in selected subgroups such as athletes or those with hip pain. CONCLUSIONS: There is currently insufficient high quality data to determine the true prevalence of cam morphology in the general population or selected subgroups. Well-designed population-based epidemiological studies that use homogenous case definitions are required to determine the prevalence of cam morphology and its relationship to hip pain.


Read full text at: https://www.oarsijournal.com/article/S1063-4584(16)00005-4/fulltext

The Independent Review Of The Mental Health Act: Interim Report

The independent review of the Mental Health Act, chaired by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, was set up to look at how the legislation in the Mental Health Act 1983 is used and how practice can improve. This interim report gives an update on the review’s findings and the areas it will look at next. It includes: service user and carer surveys; focus groups; stakeholder workshops; a call for evidence; and wider discussions with organisations and professionals. The review will examine the issues as set out in the report before making its final recommendations. Click here to see Kings Fund blog

Send us your compassionate care award entries!

New category to mark 70th anniversary of the NHS.
The call has gone out for entries for this year’s Kate Granger Compassionate Care Awards.
The Chief Nursing Officer for England, Professor Jane Cummings, today urged people to nominate colleagues and teams, while also revealing there is an extra category this year to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS. Click here to see further details

NICE - Antenatal and postnatal mental health: clinical management and service guidance

This guideline covers recognising, assessing and treating mental health problems in women who are planning to have a baby, are pregnant, or have had a baby or been pregnant in the past year.  Click here for further details. 

Mental health statistics for England: prevalence, services and funding

This briefing outlines the key statistics and data on the mental health of the population in England and mental health services.  Click here for further details.

Forty-four genomic variants linked to major depression

A new meta-analysis of more than 135,000 people with major depression and more than 344,000 controls has identified 44 genomic variants, or loci, that have a statistically significant association with depression.  Click here for further details.

Chronic dizziness can result from, or trigger, psychiatric disorders

Journal of the American Osteopathic Association research notes psychiatric disorders present in 15 percent of patients with chronic dizziness.  Click here for further details.

Brains of young people with severe behavioral problems are 'wired differently'

Psychologists and neuroscientists point to subtle differences in brain connectivity impacting young people with conduct disorder.  Click here for further details.

Alcohol and mental health: policy and practice in England

People who have difficulties with alcohol and mental health are still not getting the help and support they need, according to a report published today by the Institute of Alcohol Studies and Centre for Mental Health.  Click here for further details.

Music Sparks Regions of Brain Spared by Alzheimer’s

New research is looking into developing music-based treatments to help alleviate anxiety in dementia patients.  Click here for further details.

Anticholinergic Drugs Linked to Dementia

A study of the long-term impact of anticholinergic drugs, a class of drugs commonly prescribed as antidepressants and incontinence medications, has found their use is associated with increased risk of dementia, even when taken 20 years before diagnosis of cognitive impairment.  Click here for further details.

Three-Minute Brain Stimulation Found Effective for Hard-to-Treat Depression

A new study finds that a three-minute version of a brain stimulation treatment is just as effective as the standard 37-minute version for hard-to-treat depression.  Click here for further details.