Tag Archives: mental health
England’s mental health services ‘in crisis’
The mental health service in England is in crisis and unsafe, says one of the country’s leading psychiatrists.
Dr Martin Baggaley, medical director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, spoke out as an investigation by BBC News and Community Care magazine reveals more than 1,500 mental health beds have closed in recent years.Many trusts have all their beds filled.
Care Minister Norman Lamb said the current situation was “unacceptable” and provision must improve.
While there was a drive to treat more people in the community, he said beds must be available when patients needed them.
System ‘inefficient, unsafe’
Debt and mental health problems
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 30 Sep 2013 – 1:00 PDT
New research, led by the University of Southampton, has shown that people in debt are three times more likely to have a mental health problem than those not in debt.
There is currently around £156 billion in unsecured debt such as credit cards in the UK, of which the average family owes more than £11,000. Levels of debt have increased in recent years due to the economic recession and are predicted to increase further.
Personal budgets mooted for mental health
Personal budgets mooted for mental health
Care minister Norman Lamb has said he would like to see mental health patients being given personal budgets to pay for care.
Speaking at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow, Mr Lamb said: “I would like to move to a ‘right to have’ in relation to a personal budget and to extend it to mental health; giving individuals control over their health.
“You hear stories of how people used to go in and out of hospital and care constantly falling down.
“When they take control their wellbeing improves and they can stop the revolving door and improve their whole experience.”
