Specialist mental health centres to open

Theres little or no help here!

mum2three

Why are there so many people with mental problems? There must be a root cause. Is it pollution, or does it stem from the diet of the mother? So many women drink and smoke to excess. Does this affect the development of the baby? Too much medication?
I hope research is being done into this, because it never used to be such a big problem.

I was thinking the same.
Could it be that we are generally more aware of MH problems? Are there specific underlying causes?
And I don’t recall there being quite so many diagnoses of ADHD, Autism, etc (and I am not being judgemental here so please don’t misinterpret my words) .
Was it a case of many years ago people were institutionalised and kept away from society?

Ridley

A lot of A&E departments already have specific MH Liaison teams but the issue is more about lack of MH beds and poor community care to try and prevent many of these issues even arising. The number of MH beds have been steadily decreasing

True, and the number of MH beds for women decreased even faster. A new smaller facility, built to replace an older but larger existing one was allocated to men, with women being moved to wards in hospitals far from home.

Why are there so many people with mental problems? There must be a root cause. Is it pollution, or does it stem from the diet of the mother? So many women drink and smoke to excess. Does this affect the development of the baby? Too much medication?
I hope research is being done into this, because it never used to be such a big problem.

I do actually care an awful lot about this, but can someone else kick off a discussion - not for me, right now as Stuff Happening.

Yes, why pedants Corner ?

Top post Doodledog and an absolutely crucial subject - but I refuse to engage with it in Pedants Corner. Imo it should be News and Politics and it if is moved there I will most definitely take part.

I hope things improve as well Doodledog my daughter was a senior mental health practitioner and has left nursing due to the levels of stress and lack of support. So many good and highly qualified nursing staff leaving the profession it's very sad.

Magenta8

I am not trying to undermine the seriousness of this thread but why is it listed under Pedants' Corner?

Just what I was going to say. Mods please move it!

I think it’s an excellent idea. Of course there will be complaints that it’s not going to happen fast enough (and that will be the case for someone in a MH crisis now) but short of erecting tents there’s nothing much that can be done by next weekend, is there? Hospitals and clinics take time to build, but the principle of giving people a dedicated place to go when having an MH episode is, IMO, sound. It will reduce the strain on A&E departments dealing with physical ailments and get help to those who need it faster.

I hope the NHS is able to get funding to staff the centres adequately, and that there are enough trained nurses and psychiatrists to allow this to go ahead as planned. A friend of mine is a (retired) senior MH nurse, and she says the low levels of staff qualified to deal with serious mental illness and potentially prevent incidents such as the recent machete attack by a psychotic patient is frightening, particularly as they often present as dangerous and disturbed.

Then there are the lower levels of mental illness such as anxiety, depression and so on that cause such misery for sufferers (and their families) and costing a fortune in lost time at work and in benefits. Similarly, waiting years for a diagnosis of something like ADHD can impair a child’s education and potentially hold them back for life. Faster access to help could make a huge difference.

After 14 years of neglect, I am delighted to see that the government is taking action to turn public services around. It is bound to happen slowly, but that is so much better than not happening at all.

Sounds like my kind of place.! ;)

Well it is in Pedants' Corner

Whitewavemark2

In A&E centres across the U.K.

This must help so much to relieve A&E departments.

I’m sure we are all aware when visiting A&E the amount of folk suffering mental health issues that there are waiting to be seen.

Initially 10 centres to be opened over the next decade.

It's NHS England not the UK.
10 centres are already being piloted
Further centres will be rolled out over England in the next 10 years.

I’ve got some reservations about the proposals, because those units physically located with Accident and Emergency department will potentially work well, but the proposed stand alone units surely cannot not work effectively. A significant proportion of people in acute mental distress have been involved in an incident of one kind or another prior to admission to A&E, they may well be injured themselves, or have injured somebody else, and will need urgent physical healthcare too.
Most mental health services have a crisis intervention service already, but they are massively overstretched - and I really wonder where the staff to provide these additional services will come from. Crisis intervention is at the cutting edge of mental health services, and it really isn’t for every professional.
My other concern is that the service described is an adult services model - will it cover children, who make up a proportion of the A&E mental health workload, and will it cover older adults - people with dementia related violent behaviour also make up a proportion. I’m guessing the answer is that neither of these groups would be catered for.

I think they all have the MH liaison teams already. Sometimes it takes a day for the MH liaison to review the patient which can double or treble the length of the patient's stay (& if they abscond before being seen, the police have to search for & return them as needing MH evaluation makes them a vulnerable person unless & until the MH professional finds that they're safe).
I hope these hubs will allow MH evaluation much faster, & it would be good if they have a few beds so that anyone who has to be admitted to an inpatient facility has somewhere secure and calm(er) to wait for transfer.

It is buses😃

A lot of A&E departments already have specific MH Liaison teams but the issue is more about lack of MH beds and poor community care to try and prevent many of these issues even arising. The number of MH beds have been steadily decreasing

Magenta8

I am not trying to undermine the seriousness of this thread but why is it listed under Pedants' Corner?

I was wondering that too.

Looking through other threads makes me want to ask in Pedant's corner whether busses is now the accepted plural of bus?

I was taught it was buses.

Abolishing NHS England, as announced by the government, means that the entity responsible for managing the NHS in England will be dissolved. This move aims to decentralize power, reduce bureaucracy, and streamline the NHS by integrating NHS England's functions into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and local Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). Essentially, the government is taking direct control of the NHS in England, with a focus on improving patient outcomes, cutting waiting times, and managing spending.

Whitewavemark2

Allira

Whitewavemark2

In A&E centres across the U.K.

This must help so much to relieve A&E departments.

I’m sure we are all aware when visiting A&E the amount of folk suffering mental health issues that there are waiting to be seen.

Initially 10 centres to be opened over the next decade.

I think it's just in England (again!)

Yes I should have said that because health is devolved.

Sorry, but I think most people understand that.

Are you Australian? 😁
They think Wales is in England, although for some reason know thst Scotland is separate!

(ps agree about moving the thread)

Thank you for that vital bit of information Jaxjacky. (ie some already open)

It's been an issue for a long time for the police, in some areas they already have agreements with the NHS. Look at this from 2023 where Metropolitan police said " no more except specific circumstances"

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/28/met-police-to-stop-attending-emergency-mental-health-calls

Same in Humberside in 2023. Police and health chiefs have been talking about relieving the mental health burden on police under a new national scheme called right care, right person (RCRP).

I’ve just been reading about these in today’s paper. Ten are already open, the scheme is expected to be expanded to dozens, they may also take referrals from the police.
They are part of the 10 year NHS plan to be published by the government this summer.

Whitewavemark2 ask the mods to move this to news and politics it will get more traffic.

Allira

Whitewavemark2

In A&E centres across the U.K.

This must help so much to relieve A&E departments.

I’m sure we are all aware when visiting A&E the amount of folk suffering mental health issues that there are waiting to be seen.

Initially 10 centres to be opened over the next decade.

I think it's just in England (again!)

Yes I should have said that because health is devolved.

Sorry, but I think most people understand that.