Month: October 2020

Library Competition

Celebrating International Stress Awareness Week

Next week (2nd to 6th November) is International Stress Awareness Week. The Library Team wanted to focus on the positives, especially during these difficult times .

We are running a photograph competition throughout the week, asking people to send photographs of how you ‘de-stress’ after a hectic day. All you have to do to enter is tag us on Twitter @LscftL to be in with the chance of winning a goody bag of prizes.

The competition is open to all Trust staff and patients, along with friends and families. We’d love for as many people to get involved as possible and hope that it may bring some hope and joy throughout the week.

The winner will be announced on Monday 9th November. Happy snapping!

Free online event

Courage of compassion : transforming nurses’ and midwives’ working environments to enable them to flourish

Following the release of the Kings Fund report on The courage of compassion last month, they are providing a  free online event on 3 December in partnership with the RCN Foundation. Their panel will discuss how we can better support nurses and midwives to flourish at work and to provide compassionate care in a sustainable way.

To book your place click here.

Mental Health

Current Awareness

Children and young people’s mental health review: findings from a questionnaire to health and wellbeing boards on local actions QCQ – October 2020

(This report contains an update on work carried out in 2018 looking at the quality of mental health services for children and young people, as well as the access to these services. It sets out the findings of a 2019 independent follow-up self-assessment questionnaire, to find out the extent to which health and wellbeing board areas in England had progressed with implementing the local recommendations made.)

NHS strengthens mental health support for staff NHS England -October 2020

(NHS staff will get rapid access to expanded mental health services that are being rolled out across the country as part of efforts to deal with the second wave of coronavirus. NHS England and NHS Improvement will invest an extra £15 million to strengthen mental health support for nurses, paramedics, therapists, pharmacists, and support staff.)

NHS encourages children and young people to seek help as new data shows rise in mental health problems NHS England – October 2020

(England’s top children and young people’s mental health doctor is encouraging youngsters to seek help if they need it, as NHS Digital’s new survey shows there has been a rise in mental health problems in children and young people during the pandemic.)

The impact of Covid-19 to date on older people’s mental and physical health Age UK- October 2020

(This research finds that some older people are coping with the pandemic, but a sizeable minority are finding life incredibly tough. Those who are not very well and have long term health conditions were particularly likely to report that this is an extremely challenging time for them.The research was made up of a survey of older people, their friends, families, and loved ones (promoted across the Age UK social media channels for two weeks in August 2020 and completed by 569 people) and representative online polling of 1,364 people over the age of 60, conducted by Kantar Polling in September 2020.)

Pushed from pillar to post: improving the availability and quality of support after self-harm in England.
Samaritans; 2020.

[This report finds that there is no consistently effective support available to people who self-harm. The research identified four key support needs for people who self-harm, which are seen as essential to providing effective care: distraction from immediate self-harm urges; emotional relief in times of stress; developing alternative coping strategies; and addressing the underlying reasons for self-harm.]

Commission for Equality in Mental Health: Briefing 3: Inequalities of experience and outcomes.
Centre for Mental Health; 2020.

[This third briefing from the Commission for Equality in Mental Health explores why communities with higher rates of mental ill health often get the least effective support. This is most dramatically evident for people from Black communities in the UK, who experience higher levels of coercion and poorer long-term outcomes. This briefing explores why these inequalities persist, and looks at what can be done to bring about more equal outcomes and experiences from mental health support.]

Mental health rehabilitation inpatient services – 2019 update.
Care Quality Commission (CQC); 2020.

[Based on the results of a request to providers to review progress, the CQC has made recommendations to improve care for people in mental health rehabilitation inpatient services, in line with the recent NICE guidance for the rehabilitation of adults with complex psychosis.]

Advancing mental health equalities strategy NHS England – September 2020

(This strategy summarises the core actions all mental health services need to take to better address inequalities in access, experience and outcomes across the sector. It is also an important element of the overall NHS plans to accelerate action to address health inequalities in the next stage of responding to Covid-19.)

Wellbeing

The impacts of volunteering on the subjective wellbeing of volunteers: a rapid evidence assessment

Source: Kings Fund Health Management and Policy Alert

There is a growing body of research on the links between volunteering and wellbeing. This review (co-published with Spirit of 2012, and in partnership with the Institute of Volunteer Research) brings together the most relevant studies. It focuses on the experience of adult formal volunteers, and looks at the key factors involved in improving wellbeing through volunteering.

For more information click here.

Out of sight – who cares?

A review of restraint, seclusion and segregation for autistic people, and people with a learning disability and/or mental health condition

Source – Kings Fund Health Management and Policy Alert

This report tells the story of restrictive practices from the perspective of people who have experienced it first-hand and looks at how long-term segregation was used. The review finds that the environment of mental health hospitals was often not therapeutic. It also finds that some people were admitted without proper assessment and did not have an assessment of their needs while in hospital, resulting in the lack of a clear care and treatment plan.

Mental health in later life

Minds that matter

This report looks at the life events and circumstances that can affect people’s mental health in later life, including bereavement, loneliness, ill health and caring responsibilities. Focusing mainly on anxiety and depression, the report also describes people’s mixed experiences of seeking support from GPs, therapists and other services. It highlights the common barriers and makes recommendations for what needs to change to improve support for older people and ensure they can live a mentally healthy later life.

To find out more click here.

Covid 19

Updates

Covid-19: Second wave death rate is doubling fortnightly but is lower and slower than in March | The BMJ

Ongoing support from Government and public vigilance imperative as more regions enter Tier 3 – NHS Confederation

Themed Review: Living with Covid19.
NIHR Evidence; 2020.
(This rapid and dynamic review draws on the lived experience of patients and expert consensus as well as published evidence to better understand the impact of ongoing effects of Covid19 (‘Long Covid’), how health and social care services should respond, and what future research questions might be. 15 October.)

Covid-19: Most trainees have faced disruption to their training, GMC survey shows | The BMJ

(A national survey has found that more than seven in 10 junior doctors have had their training disrupted by the pandemic.)

Workforce flexibility in the NHS: utilising Covid-19 innovations – Kings Fund

(This briefing argues that speed at which workforce innovations and flexibilities have been implemented in the NHS since the outbreak of Covid-19 has been both impressive and encouraging. It explores and makes recommendations on six key areas of change: staff wellbeing; flexibility in staff deployment and roles; cross-organisational working and regulation; technology; making use of new roles; and funding.)

Our Covid Voices – National Voices

(A website, run by National Voices, with collected first-person accounts of living through the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. It is a place to read about what matters to people for health and care, during COVID19 and beyond.)

EBSCO Nurse of the Year 2020

Nominations open

To celebrate the Nurse of the Year, EBSCO are asking for nominations for nurses from their organisations.

The EBSCO Nurse of the Year Award winner should exemplify the WHO’s Year of the Nurse and Midwife key directives including a drive to strengthen nursing and midwifery, to achieve health care for all, and encourage fellow nurses and midwives to be change leaders influencing improvements in health care. Two winners will be selected, and the winners will each receive a $1,000 (USD) scholarship to be used for the continuing education opportunity of their choosing.

To nominate someone click here. Deadline; 16th November 2020