Tag Archives: mental health
Hundreds attend first mental health campaign meeting in Norwich
Patients and NHS workers were urged to lobby commissioners and MPs at the launch of a public campaign to save mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Ian Gibson speaks in the crowded room at the Vauxhall Centre as the campaign to save mental health services is launched. Picture: Denise Bradley
Adam Gretton Health correspondent adam.gretton@archant.co.uk
Monday, November 25, 2013
9:13 PM
There was standing room only as hundreds of people packed into a room at the Vauxhall Centre in Norwich tonight for the first Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk meeting.
The campaign was launched by front-line workers as a result of ongoing cuts by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), which is planning to cut £40m from its budget and reduce the number of inpatient beds by 20pc by 2016.
Officials from the campaign called on the government and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), which control local health budgets, to invest more in mental health services to put a stop to incidents where patients have to be placed on wards outside of Norfolk and Suffolk because there are not enough beds.
Plea for more support services after almost a third of Norfolk and Suffolk GPs say there is little point diagnosing dementia
Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance launch event in Norwich. Willie Cruickshank of Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance
.Photo: Steve Adams
Adam Gretton Health correspondent Friday, November 22, 2013
11:36 AM
Calls have been made to improve support for people with dementia after almost a third of Norfolk and Suffolk GPs surveyed said there was little point in diagnosing the condition because of a lack of support services.
NHS chiefs have called on the dementia diagnosis rate, which is currently around 40pc, to be raised to 66pc by 2015.
However, the results of a new survey by the Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance, revealed that 29pc of GPs questioned said that there was little point in diagnosing people with dementia because there were inadequate or no support services in their area. More than 100 GPs from across Norfolk and Suffolk responded to the questionnaire, which was coordinated by the University of East Anglia.
Minister calls for new mental health service targets
The introduction of hospital-style treatment targets would help address the “institutional bias” against mental health services, a health minister said.
Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk. Picture: Denise Bradley
Adam Gretton Health correspondent Saturday, November 2, 2013
7:00 AM
The introduction of hospital-style treatment targets would help address the “institutional bias” against mental health services, a health minister said.
Norman Lamb said he was determined to address the imbalance between physical health and mental health by bringing in new targets by the time of the next general election.
The North Norfolk MP and health minister yesterday said that hospitals had targets to treat patients needing non-emergency surgery within 18 weeks. However there were no similar targets or a payment by results system for mental health trusts.
Mr Lamb said that the introduction of targets would help to focus more NHS commissioner funding towards mental health services and it was “totally frustrating” how long it was taking to change things.
