Psychodynamic programmes for personality disorders: residential versus community treatment

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Keir Harding explores a recent study of community-based, step-down, and residential specialist psychodynamic programmes for personality disorders, which includes some surprising findings.

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Could psychiatric inpatient admission cause suicide?

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Alex Langford considers a recent paper about inpatient suicide, which suggests that being on a psychiatric ward may possibly result in people taking their own life.

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Smoke-free policy in psychiatric hospitals associated with reduction in physical violence

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Olivia Maynard reports on a new study in The Lancet Psychiatry that explores the effect of implementing a smoke-free policy on physical violence in a psychiatric inpatient setting, which has some surprising findings.

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The weekend effect in mental health services: new evidence suggests no increased risk of suicide, inpatient mortality or seclusion

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Laura Hemming reviews two recent studies that investigate whether patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital at the weekend had worse clinical outcomes, as well as the specific weekend versus weekday incidences of suicide in very high-risk mental health patients.

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What is the evidence for evidence-based guidelines?

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Andrew Shepherd returns to the woodland with a blog about the evidence-practice gap in specialist mental healthcare; highlighting a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of guideline implementation studies.

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Locked wards vs open wards: does control = safety?

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André Tomlin summarises a 15 year observational study published today in The Lancet Psychiatry, which provides fascinating insight into suicide risk and absconding in psychiatric inpatient units with locked wards and open door policies.

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Cochrane find no evidence for as required PRN medication for mental health inpatients

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John Baker summarises an updated Cochrane review on ‘as required’ PRN medication regimens for seriously mentally ill people in hospital, which finds no randomised controlled trials that support this widely used intervention.

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#SafeStaffing Mental health nursing on inpatient wards

We need validated assessments of depression.

John Baker looks at the implications of the leaked NICE review on #SafeStaffing for Nursing in Inpatient Mental Health Settings, which was recently uncovered by HSJ journalist Shaun Lintern.

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The scars of modern slavery: trafficked people with severe mental illness

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Yesterday was #AntiSlaveryDay, so today we are publishing a blog by Mina Fazel who considers the findings of an historical cohort study in the Lancet Psychiatry, which explores the characteristics of trafficked people with severe mental illness.

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New guidance on restrictive physical interventions published by Dept of Health

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The use of restrictive interventions should always be as a ‘last resort’ and always in the context of a clear and agreed individualised plan of support. However, the events at Winterbourne View suggested that not only was this not always the case, but that in fact these approaches were sometimes being used to humiliate or [read the full story…]