Month: June 2022

Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

Online support for family carers of people with dementia: what works for their mental health?
The Mental Elf; 2022.
https://www.nationalelfservice.net/populations-and-settings/family-carers/online-support-family-carers-dementia/
(Clarissa Giebel reflects on a recent systematic review which investigates online support for family carers of people with dementia.)

The Khan review: making smoking obsolete.
Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID); 2022.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-khan-review-making-smoking-obsolete
(Independent review by Dr Javed Khan into the government’s ambition to make England smokefree by 2030. The review makes 15 recommendations for government to achieve a smokefree society.)

Safer by Design: How can collaboration help design safer gambling?
Demos; 2022.
https://demos.co.uk/project/safer-by-design-how-can-collaboration-help-design-safer-gambling/ (Demos and Playtech hosted two roundtables that brought together those in the industry with gambling experts from academia, charities and policy. The first looked at the role policy and regulation can play, and sought ideas and input on how the gambling sector could learn from other areas. The second looked at gambling as a health issue, and how stakeholders might draw on progress made in other areas such as digital resilience and wellbeing.)

State of the Nation: A comprehensive, retrospective view of NHS data.
Wilmington Healthcare; 2022.
https://wilmingtonhealthcare.com/state-of-the-nation/
(This report looks at key data trends over the course of the pandemic, establishing how new trends in health care activity, patient numbers, disease burden, NHS operational practice, prescribing and regional variation have emerged. The report groups the data into six key areas: hospital episode statistics; demographic segmentation; therapy area analysis; referral to treatment; prescribing insights; and regional insights.)

Mental health and loneliness: the relationship across life stages.
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; 2022.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-loneliness-the-relationship-across-life-stages
(This report presents the findings from a qualitative study exploring the experiences of loneliness among those who had experienced a mental health condition. Previous research has shown there is a link between experiences of loneliness and poor mental health. The DCMS commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to explore this issue across four key life stages as part of developing the evidence base for work on tackling loneliness.)


Social work and the impact of the Covid pandemic

Reflections from the workforce

Source: UNISON

This report is based on a survey of nearly 3,000 social workers across the UK. It aims to shed light on the working conditions of social workers, and limitations on the help they are able to give vulnerable families. Staff shortages, unmanageable caseloads and long hours are identified by social workers as major concerns affecting their ability to do their job​s. More than three quarters of social workers said they had experienced increased stress levels and 77 per cent of respondents were worried about their mental health due to the pressure they’re under. Seven in ten also said morale has decreased and almost half said they​’re ​now less likely to stay in their jobs.

Shattered hopes

Black and minority ethnic leaders’ experiences of breaking the glass ceiling in the NHS

Source: NHS Confederation

This survey, carried out by the NHS Confederation’s BME Leadership Network, found that many senior leaders from BME backgrounds had experienced verbal abuse and behaviour targeting their racial, national or cultural heritage at least once in the past three years. In addition, only one in ten respondents were confident that the NHS is delivering its commitment to combat institutional racism.

Library Bulletin

Community mental health services

The June bulletin for Community mental health services, produced by Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust, are now available to view and download.

NCBI-community-mental-health-services-bulletin-June-2022Download

For support accessing any of the articles within the bulletins please contact: academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

Department of Health and Social Care 2020–21

Annual report and accounts

Source: House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts

This report finds that the Department for Health and Social Care lost 75 per cent of the £12 billion it spent on personal protective equipment (PPE) in the first year of the pandemic to inflated prices and kit that did not meet requirements – including £4 billion of PPE that will not be used in the NHS and needs to be disposed of. The report also voices concerns about the risk of further payouts as NHS commissioning is restructured under upcoming reforms.

Public Health

Current Awareness

Bringing baby home: UK fathers in the first year after the birth Father Institute, June 2022

(This review of empirical evidence about UK fathers and fatherhood in the first postnatal year, explores who fathersare; what they do as caregivers, and what influences this; what impact they have (on children and mothers); and how services engage with them. The review finds that NHS systems are not set up to engage with, assess and support new fathers, despite clear evidence that there is a strong case for routine engagement with them in the perinatal period.)

Public attitudes towards institutions involved in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic King’s College London

(According to this international study of six countries three in four (74 per cent) people in the UK think the government is motivated by building or protecting its own reputation when it comes to Covid-19, while six in ten (61 per cent) believe it is motivated by making lots of money in relation to the pandemic. However, majorities in other nations share the same perceptions. These perceptions also extend, although to a lesser extent, to scientists involved in tackling coronavirus.)

Investigating factors associated with loneliness in adults in England National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)

(The DCMS commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to explore factors associated with loneliness in adults in England. The research investigated: the characteristics of those at risk of loneliness; whether the risk factors for loneliness have changed over time; whether any factors predict the alleviation of loneliness over the short term; and the relationship between loneliness and mental wellbeing.)

Make Every Contact Count (MECC) for Menopause training session The Royal Society for Public Health

(MECC for Menopause is aimed at front line health, social, wellbeing, care staff and volunteers, who have direct contact with women accessing services. It aims to raise awareness within the workplace as women often find it difficult to discuss menopause related health problems. This session is delivered by Health Education England and Royal Society for Public Health on Wednesday 13th July 2022.)

Library Bulletin

Depression

The current bulletin for Depression, produced by Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust, is now available to view and download.

For support accessing any of the articles within the bulletin please contact: academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

Royal College of Psychiatrist

Eliminating inappropriate out of area placements in mental health

Source: Royal College of Psychiatrist

The government’s deadline to eliminate inappropriate out of area placements for adult acute patients by the end of March 2021 has now been missed by a full year. Sometimes hundreds of miles away from home, patients are unable to access their usual support networks while at their most vulnerable, often finding their care seriously disrupted, with long-term implications for their recovery. The NHS spent £102 million on inappropriate out of area placements in the 12 months up to and including March 2022 – the equivalent to the cost of the annual salary of more than 900 consultant psychiatrists. This briefing sets out the urgent action the NHS should take to ensure all patients get the care they need from properly staffed, specialist services in their local area.