CM Mental Health

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued a new quality standard to provide more personalised care for people with a learning disability and challenging behaviour.

A Care Quality Commission (CQC) survey of 13,000 community mental health service users has found no notable improvement’ in the last year. In some areas a further slightly higher proportion of people have reported a poor experience with services run by NHS trusts.

Large numbers of people with learning disabilities are being inappropriately prescribed antipsychotic drugs, according to a new study from University College London.

The use of police cells as a place of safety’ has been halved since the introduction of the Crisis Care Concordat, the Department of Health has said.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has expressed concerns about the amount of funding available to ensure young adults can stay with their foster families for longer.

The Transforming Care Delivery Board (made up of NHS England, the Local Government Association, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Care Quality Commission, Health Education England and the Department of Health) has published a report on the progress made improving services for people with learning disabilities.

Many mental health patients currently being treated on adult acute wards could be treated in other settings if they were available, according to a commission set up by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

The residential care capacity in the specialist care sector is on a slowly declining trend as councils opt for supported living wherever possible, LaingBuisson chief executive William Laing told delegates at the Social Care Forum: Younger Adults last month. He said: The care homes are viewed by many as, if not a burning platform, a slowly melting one, as, so people say, the future lies with supported living as so far as that is possible and so far as that comes on stream.’

A report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found that improvements are needed in 24-hour support for people having a mental health crisis despite government initiatives to improve access to services.

NICE is consulting on a new draft guideline to ensure that children and young people in the care system are able to develop stable, secure relationships with their carers. NICE said that children who are moving through the care system are more prone to having difficulty developing a secure bond, which can lead to problems with their mental health, emotional wellbeing and education.