Despite health’s high profile in the 2005 General Election campaigns there are no specific mental health policies in any of the three main UK political parties’ election manifestos…
Mental Capacity Act 2005: Your Questions Answered
Last week the Mental Capacity Bill received Royal Assent. Here we answer your questions about the new Act…
Time for a Redraft say Protestors at Mental Health Rally
Treat Depression with Exercise, Report Urges
A new report published by the Mental Health Foundation says GPs should be offering exercise on prescription to all patients with depression.
The report finds that a supervised programme of exercise on prescription can be as effective as antidepressants in treating mild or moderate depression – but that GPs are still turning to antidepressants as their first-line treatment due to a perceived lack of available alternatives. Many of the GPs surveyed for the report do not believe exercise is an effective treatment, despite advice from the Chief Medical Officer as well as a substantial weight of evidence…
Interview: Matthew Butcher
Joint Committee Report on Draft Mental Health Bill published
The Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill has today published its report on the Draft Mental Health Bill.
Key findings are:
the Bill should proceed – but only with significant amendments
there’s too much focus placed on protecting the public from a small minority of people with a mental illness
the powers granted in the current Draft could potentially be used as the equivalent of a mental health ASBO – enforcing treatment on people who might only be a ‘nuisance’
compulsory treatment should be used only where there is no other alternative and where it has therapeutic benefit
people who can’t benefit from treatment should be dealt with by separate legislation (for example people with an untreatable “personality disorder”)
treatment in the community should be more restricted than under current proposals
there should be reciprocal rights to treatment including the right to assessment
the law should play a part in improving services and combating stigma
fundamental principles should be set out at the start of the Bill.
Amendments to Mental Capacity Bill Welcomed
The Making Decisions Alliance, a coalition of leading UK charities including Age Concern, Rethink, Mind, the Mental Health Foundation and Carers UK, has welcomed amendments to the Mental Capacity Bill which will give greater power to those who have a limited capacity to make decisions…
Healthcare Investigation launched
The Disability Rights Commission has launched a formal investigation into the health care received by people with long term mental illness and people with learning disabilities…
Cardigan Worst in Wales for “Hurried Woman Syndrome”
Women in Cardigan are the most likely in Wales to suffer from “hurried woman syndrome” and are liable to encounter high stress and anxiety levels, mild depression and low self-esteem, a new report suggests…
New Research Reveals High Suicide Rate for Wales
Newly released data from the Office for National statistics shows that the suicide rate in Wales is higher than in any of the England regions.
Whilst the adult suicide rate per 100,000 population in 2003 was 11.4 for England and Wales as a whole, the rate for Wales alone was 13.9. The rate of male suicide in Wales per 100,000 population was 22.5, compared to 17.6 for England and Wales combined; the rate for Women in Wales was 5.5 per 100,000 population, compared to 5.7 overall…