The healthcare needs of people with learning disabilities have been well covered in the literature. The recent confidential inquiry into premature deaths found delays or problems with diagnosis or treatment and problems with providing appropriate care in response to changing needs. Annual health checks have been shown to be effective in identifying previously unknown health [read the full story…]
The Royal College of Psychiatrists has today published what they are calling a landmark report on achieving parity between mental and physical health. The report, Whole-Person Care: From Rhetoric to Reality, defines parity as valuing mental health equally with physical health. It highlights the significant inequalities that exist between physical and mental health care, including [read the full story…]
Since starting this blog two years ago, I have written about a number of studies that highlight the health inequalities faced by people with severe mental illness. The evidence keeps piling up and it’s really quite shocking that we are not doing more to diagnose and treat physical health problems in people with conditions such [read the full story…]
A year ago this week I blogged about a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry that showed the dramatically reduced life expectancy of people with severe mental illness, who on average live 15-20 years less than the rest of the population. Twelve months on and a new study published in the same journal paints an equally [read the full story…]
We have posted previously about health checks for people with learning disabilities, for example, the work of My Life My Choice, who looked at why it was that so few people with learning disabilities in their locality were getting access to annual health checks. We have also posted about the findings of a systematic review [read the full story…]
NICE have published three new public health briefings for local government on Inequalities and population health, the Public Health Outcomes Framework and Alcohol. These documents are aimed at local authorities and their partner organisations in the health and voluntary sectors, in particular those involved with health and wellbeing boards. Local government is preparing to take [read the full story…]
The Mencap Getting it Right campaign was launched some time ago in recognition that people with a learning disability were getting a raw deal from the NHS, with unequal access to treatments and reports of poor care. A range of reasons may lie behind this poor response, including inadequate training, lack of support, lack of knowledge [read the full story…]
People aged 18-74 with serious mental illness have a mortality rate three times as high as the general population, new data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) show. Though previous research has looked at this area, this is the first time such figures have been calculated by linking mortality data to the [read the full story…]
Following on from the publication of the NHS Atlas of Variation in Healthcare and the NHS Atlas for Children and Young People, there is now an atlas which looks at the variations in social care services across England. The report, put together by Health Mandate, focuses on four main outcomes: Enhancing quality of life for [read the full story…]
Mental illness accounts for nearly half of all ill health in people under 65, but only a quarter of people are given the treatment they need, according to a new report published today by the London School of Economics. The report has been written by a distinguished group of mental health and health policy professionals from [read the full story…]
