Warwickshire County Council has launched a new suicide prevention strategy to combat the number of deaths from suicide across the county. Read more...
The Mental Health Act 1983 provides the authority in England and Wales to detain and treat people suffering from, or believed to be suffering from a mental disorder on a psychiatric unit without their agreement. A detained person is protected under the Act, and provided with certain rights, such as a right to challenge their detention in hospital. This can be done through exercising a right of appeal to the Mental Health Tribunal. Read more...
A new report by Public Health England (PHE) into the mental health of children in London has found that more than 110,000 children in the capital are suffering with significant mental ill health. Read more...
The London Assembly Health Committee is holding a meeting on Tuesday 29 November, to discuss suicide in London – including how suicide prevention work is co-ordinated and whether or not London should aspire to be a “zero suicide city”, like Detroit in the US. Read more...
The NSPCC has responded to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, saying that the government “has again missed the opportunity” to show it is making progress on a country that works for vulnerable children and the mental health crisis they face. Read more...
Mental health charity Mind is calling on parliament to end the use of police cells as “places of safety” for people in mental health crisis, after new data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Lead for Mental Health revealed that some forces are still putting people who have a mental health condition in cells on a daily basis. Read more...
Sefton Council on Merseyside has set up a Working Group looking into Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS) in the area – and is calling on service users to share their views. Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has responded to a report about Jobcentre Plus, saying it is concerning that soon Work Coaches in Jobcentres will become the only source of support for thousands of people with mental health problems who are currently out of work. Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has responded to the publication of an Inquiry by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Read more...
According to the NSPCC’s Childline, children as young as 8 years old have contacted the Charity seeking help with anxiety. In fact the number of young people reaching out for help has increased sharply. Read more...
Selby District Council in North Yorkshire has announced a second mental health conference, following the success of the first ever mental health conference in Selby. Read more...
A City Hall event in London has highlighted mental health among the LGBT community. Read more...
University of Manchester’s 20th National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCISH) report has found that more than 200 suicide deaths per year now occur in patients under mental health crisis teams – three times as many as among inpatients. Read more...
Welsh mental health charity Mind Cymru has responded to the Welsh government’s proposal of an extra £20 million in funding for mental health services in Wales, published in a draft budget on Tuesday (18/10/16). Read more...
Welsh Assembly Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has launched the Welsh Government^s new delivery plan to improve mental health and wellbeing in Wales. Read more...
Leeds City Council has welcomed the publication of a suicide audit completed by public health professionals in Leeds. Read more...
Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council in Leicestershire is holding a free event to mark World Mental Health Day today (10/10/16). Read more...
Hartlepool Council has announced it will be holding a free event to mark World Mental Health Day on Monday (10/10/16). Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has responded to new figures published by NHS Digital (formerly the Health and Social Care Information Centre) estimating the prevalence of mental health problems across the country. Read more...
New figures from Public Health England (PHE) show that the proportion of people dying with a recorded dementia diagnosis has more than doubled since 2001. Read more...
New research by NHS Digital shows that one in three adults (37%) aged 16-74 with conditions such as anxiety or depression who were surveyed in England were accessing mental health treatment in 2014. Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has responded to a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) about the need for a whole-government approach to mental health services. Read more...
Chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, Paul Farmer, has responded to data obtained by MP Norman Lamb and shared with the BBC, which highlight that the use of physical restraint has increased in many mental health trusts in England. Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has said that many Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are reducing the amount they are spending on mental health services. Read more...
The Welsh Assembly (WA) has announced an EU-backed programme to help 6,000 people recovering from substance misuse and mental health conditions into work. Read more...
Bradford Council is encouraging more people to talk about their anxieties and worries – and to seek help if they need to – as a key part of efforts to cut suicide rates in Bradford. Read more...
Wolverhampton Council is offering training to organisations and individuals who may come into contact with someone at risk of suicide, as part of a range of activities taking place in Wolverhampton to mark World Suicide Prevention Day on Saturday (10/09/16). Read more...
The City of Wolverhampton Council has announced a series of activities to mark Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September. Read more...
The charity Thames Reach is calling for more to be done to highlight and address the needs of rough sleepers with mental health conditions in London.
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UK, US and Swedish researchers have found that sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a child or as a young adult might increase the risk of health problems in adult life, including a higher risk for mental health conditions. Read more...
The government has announced that 41 projects have been awarded funding for places of safety for people in mental health crisis. Read more...
A report by the Communities and Local Government Committee on factors contributing to homelessness says that many homeless people are affected by one or more contributing factors, such as poor mental health, substance addiction or experience of abuse. Read more...
Wigan Council has launched a project offering mental health support for children and young people. Read more...
New figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that, out of 170 of 209 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) which responded to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, a total of 23% said they had applied a two-week target for mental health patients aged 14 to 35 years to receive treatment for psychosis symptoms. Read more...
The Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust has been fined for safety failings, after a patient drowned during a canoeing activity event. Read more...
A partnership between the City of York Council, the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and York schools has agreed funding to roll out a pilot project to further improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people across the whole city. Read more...
Reading Council has launched a consultation to help inform how Reading^s Mental Health Day Services are delivered. Read more...
An evidence review published by the Centre for Mental Health – Missed Opportunities by Lorraine Khan – finds that mental health problems are very common among young people, but awareness is poor and most attempts by parents to get help for their children are unsuccessful. Read more...
Research published by Centre for Mental Health suggests that traumatic brain injury (TBI) costs the UK a total of £15 billion every year, including the costs of lost work, of health and social care and of premature mortality – and puts young people at higher risk of poor mental health and offending. Read more...
The Department of Health (DoH) has announced that an additional £12 million is to be spent over the next two years to expand services making mental health assessments available to individuals arrested. Read more...
Barnet Council in London has announced that all of Barnet’s ten children’s centres have now been awarded a Healthy Children’s Centre special health status, to recognise their work in helping to improve the health of children and families in Barnet. Read more...
Essex County Council is inviting residents to share their experiences of children and young people’s mental health services in the county. Read more...
Mental health charity SANE has said that new research suggesting that most antidepressant drugs are ineffective for children and teens leaves “a gap in any treatments that are available” to youngsters with mental health issues. Read more...
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is inviting anyone in the borough who has a mental health condition to take part in its programme of workshops and activities for people with mental health issues, as part of a national research project. Read more...
Gloucestershire County Council’s (GCC) public health team has funded training for an officer to train frontline staff in how to support people who are feeling suicidal. Read more...
Cambridgeshire County Council is to launch a new website to help children and young people across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough tackle mental health issues. Read more...
South Gloucestershire Council is introducing a suicide prevention training programme, which aims to help reduce the number of suicides in South Gloucestershire. Read more...
Warwickshire County Council is supporting Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs from 16th to 22nd May. Read more...
Rotherham Council is encouraging the public to support Dementia Awareness Week by taking part in free Dementia Friends sessions run by the Alzheimer’s Society. Read more...
Camden Council is inviting residents to share their experiences of the mental health services provided by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. Read more...
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced that, following consultation on a proposed reduction in the frequency of reporting of Official Statistics on mental health in the UK Armed Forces, in the future mental health statistics for veterans will be published biannually, rather than quarterly. Read more...
The government has opened bidding to fund health-based places of safety to prevent people with mental health conditions being held in police cells. Read more...
A Croydon Council-run service that helps adults with learning disabilities, mental health problems and other support needs has been rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Read more...
Education and Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah has told a meeting at the Anna Freud Centre in London that single contact points in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) can maintain “an open channel of communication” and act as the bridge between a school and CAMHS. Read more...
The government has announced that a quarter of a billion pounds has been pledged towards the UK’s first ever Dementia Research Institute (DRI). Read more...
A report into mental health services for looked after children – for which Essex County Council provided written and oral evidence – has found that nearly half of children in care have a diagnosable mental health disorder, with looked after children four times more likely than their non-looked after peers to have a mental health condition. Read more...
Portsmouth Library Service has launched a new scheme to support young people’s mental health, by offering expert endorsed books available to borrow for free. Read more...
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is asking for people who have received care for depression, anxiety or stress to report their experiences to the CQC in a public awareness campaign running this summer. Read more...
Researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and colleagues have found that depression may add to the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in those with early symptoms of metabolic disease. Read more...
A new report from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has found that smoking is the biggest contributing factor as to why people with mental health have a lower average lifespan, which is between 10 and 20 years less than the general population. Read more...
Researchers at the University of Exeter and colleagues from European institutions are studying the biological markers involved in social withdrawal, which can be a symptom of several mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, Major Depressive Disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Read more...
Surrey County Council has opened a café-style drop in centre, which offers help to people with mental health issues. Read more...
Mental health charity Mind has responded to comments made by the charity’s honorary president about child abuse victims. Read more...
NHS Improvement has advised Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust that further regulatory action will be taken, to ensure that the trust improves existing issues quickly – and to ensure that in the future staff can spot and quickly mitigate any future risks to patients and service users. Read more...
Westminster Council and its NHS partners are consulting on a new delivery of mental health services – including a move away from day centres towards tailored support focusing on recovery, with help to enable more people to receive the support they need. Read more...
Kent County Council has launched a new campaign, which aims to reduce the number of suicides among men. Read more...
The Welsh Government has announced that, as part of £30 million funding for mental health and older people in 2016-2017, the Welsh Government will invest £2.3m to create new teams to provide extra support – especially in the evening and at night – for people with mental health conditions, including dementia. Read more...
NHS England has launched a consultation on mental health services run for veterans.< Read more...
The government’s health regulator Monitor has announced that the quality of care provided to mental health patients at the North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is set to improve, after Monitor stepped in to help the trust make changes to the way it is run. Read more...
Kingston Council is appealing for more private sector landlords to come forward with properties suitable for families who have fled conflict in Syria. Read more...
Kingston and Richmond Councils’ social enterprise company Achieving for Children (AfC) has held a mental health conference for year nine and ten pupils across Kingston, in partnership with Kingston Public Health. Read more...
The West Midland Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Mental Health Commission is collecting evidence from people who have mental health experiences and the knowledge of professional mental health practitioners and organisations by holding a series of listening events across the region. Read more...
The Welsh Government is re-running its “Cross the line” campaign to tackle domestic violence, launching on 15 March and running until 5 April. Read more...
Former serving members of the Armed Forces are being invited to tell NHS England what they think about mental health services, in a survey which will help to shape service provision for the next five years. Read more...
Central Bedfordshire Council and partner organisations are promoting Five Ways to Wellbeing – an initiative to encourage people to think differently about mental health. Read more...
A mental health convention in Horsham, Surrey has enabled teenagers and young adults to discuss their own assumptions about mental health – and discover that they have much in common with their peers when it comes to mental health issues. Read more...
A service funded by Barnet Council and delivered by London charity Twining Enterprise has been commended as a Centre of Excellence. Read more...
The Mental Health Foundation has responded to the government’s Mental Health Taskforce Report, saying that the emphasis on preventing mental health conditions is a “pivotal moment”. Read more...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a farm after a young worker was killed while trying to clear a blockage in a grain bin at Hawick in Scotland. Read more...
The chief executive of mental health charity Mind has responded to MPs in the Commons overturning House of Lords amendments to the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which would have protected the amount of money paid to those who receive disability benefits. Read more...
Shropshire Council has announced that mental health academics from Australia, Wales and England will join with lecturers from the University Centre Shrewsbury (UCS) for the launch their new book, which provides an introduction to mental health at each stage of life. Read more...
A review into a nature-based mental health therapy has found that those with a mental health condition may benefit from carrying out horticultural past-times. Read more...
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has announced £1.5 million in funding to help young people spot signs of mental illness via new peer support networks. Read more...
The Minister for Syrian Refugees Richard Harrington has praised local authorities and encouraged more to come forward and support government plans to resettle Syrian refugees in the UK. Read more...
The Prime Minister has announced that tens of thousands of people with mental health conditions will be supported to find or return to work. Read more...
Sandwell Council in the West Midlands has completed the refurbishment of a landmark 4,000th home, as part of a £50 million package of repairs and improvements to 6,000 council properties. Read more...
West Sussex County Council has made a commitment to end the stigma and discrimination people with mental health problems can experience. Read more...
The Home Office has announced that the government will take forward legislation to greatly restrict the circumstances when a police cell can be used to detain people with mental health conditions. Read more...
Mental health charity Rethink Mental Illness has been re-commissioned by Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Wiltshire Council to support vulnerable people through crises and help them live independently. Read more...
A campaign started by Buckinghamshire County Council to help improve the mental health of men has attracted nearly 3,000 people to the Heads Up website. Read more...
St Helens Council is supporting the national campaign day for mental health on Thursday 4 February – and will encourage residents to join the nation in talking about mental health to help end the misconceptions around it. Read more...
Welsh Government Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford has announced a new three-year plan to improve mental health services in Wales. Read more...
The Local Government Association (LGA) has responded to the government’s announcement on additional funding for mental health services. Read more...
Buckinghamshire County Council has launched a local mental health campaign, which aims to prompt men to recognise if they are feeling low and to take action. Read more...
The Prime Minister has pledged to improve some of the country’s most needy sink housing estates and replace rundown homes with “attractive and safe” housing and affordable homes. Read more...
The government has announced a revolution in mental health services, with nearly one £1 billion in investment in mental health. Read more...
The Welsh Government has said that a £7.2 million EU-backed funding programme will help up to 6,000 people recovering from substance misuse and mental health conditions into employment. Read more...