scholarly journals Medical staffing crisis in psychiatry

1998 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Jenkins ◽  
Jan Scott
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Royal College ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Health Service Executive ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
The Republic

This article summarises the findings of a National Health Service Executive, Royal College of Psychiatrists', National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts, and Trust Federation working group on medical staffing in mental health, which reported to ministers in summer 1996 and was launched at a conference in November 1996 jointly with the College. Although primarily focused on England and Wales, it is clear that similar problems exist in other parts of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

scholarly journals Homebirthing in the United Kingdom during COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-200
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Chloe Romanis ◽  
Anna Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
National Health ◽  
Place Of Birth ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Failure To Protect

COVID-19 has significantly impacted all aspects of maternity services in the United Kingdom, exacerbating the fact that choice is insufficiently centred within the maternity regime. In this article, we focus on the restrictions placed on homebirthing services by some National Health Service Trusts in response to the virus. In March 2020, around a third of Trusts implemented blanket policies suspending their entire homebirth service. We argue that the failure to protect choice about place of birth during the pandemic may not only be harmful to birthing people’s physical and mental health, but also that it is legally problematic as it may, in some instances, breach human rights obligations. We also voice concerns about the possibility that in the absence of available homebirthing services people might choose to freebirth. While freebirthing (birthing absent any medical or midwifery support) is not innately problematic, it is concerning that people may feel forced to opt for this.

scholarly journals Informing National Health Service patients about participation in clinical research: A comparison of opt-in and opt-out approaches across the United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
pp. 000486742097326
Author(s):  
Catherine Henshall ◽  
Jennifer Potts ◽  
Sophie Walker ◽  
Mark Hancock ◽  
Mark Underwood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Clinical Research ◽  
National Health ◽  
Research Participation ◽  
Research Opportunities ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Opt Out

Objective: Recruitment to clinical research in the National Health Service remains challenging. One barrier is accessing patients to discuss research participation. Two general approaches are used in the United Kingdom to facilitate this: an ‘opt-in’ approach (when clinicians communicate research opportunities to patients) and an ‘opt-out’ approach (all patients have the right to be informed of relevant research opportunities). No evidence-based data are available, however, to inform the decision about which approach is preferable. This study aimed to collect information from ‘opt-in’ and ‘opt-out’ Trusts and identify which of the two approaches is optimal for ensuring National Health Service patients are given opportunities to discuss research participation. Method: This sequential mixed methods study comprised three phases: (1) an Appreciative Inquiry across UK Trusts, (2) online surveys and (3) focus groups with National Health Service staff and patients at a representative mental health Trust. Results: The study was conducted between June and October 2019. Out of seven National Health Service Mental Health Trusts contacted (three ‘opt-out’ and four ‘opt-in’), only four took part in phase 1 of the study and three of them were ‘opt-out’ Trusts. Benefits of an ‘opt-out’ approach included greater inclusivity of patients and the removal of research gatekeepers, while the involvement of research-active clinicians and established patient–clinician relationships were cited as important to ‘opt-in’ success. Phases 2 and 3 were conducted at a different Trust (Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust) which was using an ‘opt-in’ approach. Of 333 staff and member survey responders, 267 (80.2%) favoured moving to an ‘opt-out’ approach (phase 2). Nineteen staff and 16 patients and carers participated in focus groups (phase 3). Concern was raised by staff regarding the lack of time for clinical research, with clinical work taking precedence over research; patients were concerned about a lack of research activity; all considered research to be beneficial and were supportive of a move to ‘opt-out’. Conclusion: Findings suggest that ‘opt-out’ is more beneficial than ‘opt-in’, with the potential to vastly increase patient access to research opportunities and to enable greater equality of information provision for currently marginalised groups. This should ensure that healthcare research is more representative of the entire population, including those with a mental health diagnosis.

scholarly journals Fairness, Ethnicity, and COVID-19 Ethics

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-600
Author(s):  
Alexis Paton
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Royal College ◽  
Decision Tool ◽  
Clinical Guidance ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Ethical Guidance ◽  
Ethical Response ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractRecent weeks have seen an increased focus on the ethical response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethics guidance has proliferated across Britain, with ethicists and those with a keen interest in ethics in their professions working to produce advice and support for the National Health Service. The guiding principles of the pandemic have emerged, in one form or another, to favour fairness, especially with regard to allocating resources and prioritizing care. However, fairness is not equivalent to equity when it comes to healthcare, and the focus on fairness means that existing guidance inadvertently discriminates against people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Drawing on early criticisms of existing clinical guidance (for example, the frailty decision tool) and ethical guidance in Britain, this essay will discuss the importance of including sociology, specifically the relationship between ethnicity and health, in any ethical and clinical guidance for care during the pandemic in the United Kingdom. To do otherwise, I will argue, would be actively choosing to allow a proportion of the British population to die for no other reason than their ethnic background. Finally, I will end by arguing why sociology must be a key component in any guidance, outlining how sociology was incorporated into the cross-college guidance produced by the Royal College of Physicians.

STEPPS in the United Kingdom

2016 ◽  
pp. 68-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
National Health ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Implementation And Dissemination ◽  
British Culture

This chapter describes the implementation and dissemination of STEPPS in the United Kingdom (UK). The program is used in several partnerships within the National Health Service in England and Scotland. A UK version of the program was developed to ensure that the program was linguistically compatible with British culture. Modifications of the program have been developed for adolescents and persons with symptoms of borderline personality disorder who do not meet full criteria, with the goal of providing a non-pathologizing approach or to serve as an early intervention. For these two versions of the program, the reference to “emotional intensity disorder” (EID), has been replaced by “emotional intensity difficulties” (EID), and BPD is not used in the patient workbook materials. The goal of the National Health Service is to ensure that STEPPS is available for those with disorders of emotional regulation and to prevent a lifetime of involvement in mental health services.

Provision of care for congenital heart disease in the United Kingdom

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-234
Author(s):  
Stewart Hunter
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
National Health ◽  
Health Expenditure ◽  
Total Health Expenditure ◽  
Regional Health ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Regional Health Authorities

The organization of the national health service in the United Kingdom has been under constant review and revision since its inception after the Second World War. Central government spends £35,894 million each year on the Health Service and it is the country's largest employer. Total health expenditure in the United Kingdom accounts for 6.1% of the Gross Domestic Product. This apparently compares unfavorably with 12.4% total health expenditure in the United States.States. However the public health expenditure is identical in the two countries, 5.2%, and this figure is similar in most developed countries including Australia, Denmark, Spain and Switzerland. The overall regional administration of the Health Service in England (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have slightly different organizations) is well established, although the names of the different strata of administration change from time to time. The Secretary of State for Health oversees the Department of Health including the National Health Service Management Executive. Under this Management Executive are 14 Regional Health Authorities covering 100% of the total population.There are within the London area several Special Health Authorities set up in the past because of the particular expertise which they provided. These are under review and will almost certainly lose their special status in the future because of the improvements and increase in services nationwide. The Regional Health Authorities have under their care 177 District Health Authorities and 90 Family Health Service Authorities.They do not manage the National Health Service Trusts—a new development which allows hospitals and other organizations within the Health Service to work autonomously to provide NHS services.

Patient and carer participation in old age psychiatry in England. Part II: models of participation

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Mary Benbow
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Old Age ◽  
National Health ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Old Age Psychiatry

ABSTRACTBackground: There are a number of models of patient and carer participation. Their usefulness and applicability to old age psychiatry is considered.Methods: Models of participation are reviewed and related to examples of participation initiatives drawn from the author's work in the context of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom.Results: Models of participation which emphasize collaboration and partnership are found to be useful. Simple interventions such as copying letters to patients and/or carers can lead to change in the balance of power between staff and patients/carers. Initiatives which draw on the experiences of patients and carers can facilitate organizational learning and development. Involving patients and carers in education offers a way to influence services and the staff working in them.Conclusion: Participation is better understood as a spectrum rather than a hierarchy. Old age psychiatry services would benefit from developing greater patient and carer participation at all levels.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document