It seems like common sense that the first place someone with a health problem is likely to turn for help is their GP, who is expected to deal with them in an appropriate manner. For people with mental health problems, however, this isn’t necessarily the case. According to the anti-stigma campaign Time to Change (TTC), many people experiencing mental distress arrive at the GP surgery to find that primary care professionals are ill-equipped to deal with their needs. Sometimes the sheer volume of work GPs must contend with means there aren’t the resources available. But often a lack of awareness and training about mental health issues means patients do not receive the care and attention they need.
Tag Archives: carers
Anti-stigma project helps GPs treat people with mental health problems
Time to Change hopes its model for raising awareness among primary care staff can be rolled out across the country
Time to Change has made headway in changing attitudes among clinicians and support staff.
Malnutrition among older people: A lack of food and thought
There are an estimated 3 million people in the UK suffering from malnutrition but, despite the public health implications, the issue receives very little attention. So how can awareness be raised?
Denis Campbell
The Guardian, Wednesday 29 May 2013
Domestic carers who only visit an old person’s home once a week may not realise the person they look after is not eating enough. Images Group Editorial
Domestic carers who only visit an old person’s home once a week may not realise the person they look after is not eating enough. Photograph: BSIP/Universal Images Group Editorial
For some people the word “malnutrition” inevitably conjures up mental images of starving children in Africa. But it is also an issue much closer to home, here in the United Kingdom. About 3 million people in the UK are estimated to either suffer from malnourishment or be at risk of becoming underfed. The resulting problems are believed to cost the public sector several billion pounds, for example from avoidable hospital admissions and extra GP visits for treatments of the range of illnesses malnutrition can cause. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has identified better nutritional care as the sixth-largest potential source of savings in the NHS.
Dementia care given priority in new NHS training guidelines
Department of Health training blueprint promises to give NHS education unprecedented focus and importance
Andrew Sparrow
The Guardian, Tuesday 28 May 2013
Tackling dementia and encouraging medical students to become GPs are among the priorities under a new framework for NHS training.
At least half the number of medical students must go on to become GPs, and much more should be done to increase awareness of dementia, an NHS training blueprint will announce today.
Getting more nurses to train in the community is also a priority under a new framework for NHS training.
