Tag Archives: mental health

The mentally ill are still neglected and stigmatised

November 14, 2012   Carers, mental health, schizophrenia, stigma

The mentally ill are still neglected and stigmatised – just as I found they were 10 years ago

The Schizophrenia Commission’s report, published today, is an indictment of the way we treat some of our most vulnerable citizens. Jeremy Laurance laments a lost decade in mental healthcare

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Ten years ago I spent six months touring the country observing the care provided to people with mental illness for a book I was writing. Pure Madness, published in 2003, described a system “driven by fear”, in which risk reduction and protection of the public was the priority, rather than the care of patients. The public and political focus on the tiny numbers who posed a risk had distracted attention from the “huge majority of frightened, disturbed people whose suffering remains largely hidden”, I wrote.

Read More

MPs’ guide to mental health

November 5, 2012   Carers, mental health

MPs’ guide to mental health

5th November 2012

How often have you been faced with a constituent who’s struggling with a mental health problem, and not known how you can help?

Today Mind, Rethink Mental Illness and the Royal College of Psychiatrists launch a booklet which sets out practical ways for MPs and staffers to support constituents with mental health problems. The booklet is endorsed by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health (APPGMH).

Read More

Political bravery is needed to plug the gap in social care

November 2, 2012   Carers, disability, mental health, Older care

New research shows there is a current funding gap in adult social care of about £634 million per year. Government and local authorities are going to have to make brave decisions

 

The lack of money to fund appropriate care for the elderly means that politicians and local authorities need to start thinking innovatively.

How do you want to spend your old age? Many of us would prefer to spend our final years in our own homes, but not to be completely isolated. If we have to go into residential care we want that setting to be comfortable, safe and stimulating. In sum we want dignity, autonomy and security in our old age.

However for too many people residential care is catastrophically expensive, poor quality and disconnected from the full range services they may need.

A new paper written by LGiU for the RSA and published Friday 2 November highlights the scale of this problem, not just for national government but especially for local government which funds and commissions the vast majority of social care.

As recently as April this year Paul Burstow, then social care minister, told the House of Commons health select committee: “There is no gap in the current spending review period on the basis of the money that we are putting in plus efficiency gains through local authorities redesigning services.”

Read More