Psychotropic medication in pregnancy: new evidence may help achieve a safe balance

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Joanne Wallace considers a recent health technology assessment on the risks and benefits of psychotropic medication in pregnancy, which supports previous associations between valproate and adverse child outcomes.

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Self-harm in primary care: more prescribing than referrals

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Olivia Kirtley and Alys Cole-King present a major new cohort study, which includes worrying evidence about the clinical management of patients in primary care following self-harm.

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Collaborative care for depression: acceptable, effective and affordable

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Ben Hannigan writes his debut blog on the CADET cluster RCT, which investigates the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of collaborative care for depression in UK primary care.

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Cognitive therapies for depression in adults: let’s just stick to the facts

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Ioana Cristea reviews the NIHR-DC Highlight on cognitive therapies for depression, published online today, which summarises three NIHR-funded trials (REEACT, CoBalT and PREVENT) looking at cCBT, CBT and MBCT for depression in adults.

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Does QOF reduce hospitalisation for people with severe mental illness?

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Andres Fonseca appraises a regression analysis looking at the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) and the impact it has on psychiatric admissions in people with severe mental illness.

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Mindfulness-based interventions in primary care: absent but successful

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Ioana Cristea appraises a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of mindfulness in primary care. She finds that the evidence is insufficient to draw any reliable conclusions about the actual effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in primary care settings.

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Computerised CBT for depression is no better than usual GP care: the REEACT trial

Last November we blogged the REEACT trial and concluded that computerised CBT for depression is no better than usual GP care.

Another debut blog today, this time from Suzanne Dash, who presents the results of the REEACT trial published last week in the BMJ. The study found limited uptake of computerised CBT by people with clinical depression and no benefit of free or commercially available cCBT packages over usual GP care.

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Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration

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Kirsten Lawson explores the benefits of working across professional and therapeutic boundaries, highlighted beautifully by the recent COINCIDE RCT of collaborative care for patients with depression comorbid with diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

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Reducing the bureaucracy in general practice must be a national priority, says NHS Alliance

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Sarah McDonald reviews a new NHS Alliance report, which provides a snapshot of GP and Practice Manager views on the day-to-day work demands that exist outside of general practice consultations.

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To deliver quality primary care, GPs should analyse their clinical case-mix, says Health Education England

Three heads and lots of cogs

This post looks at the Health Education England report, The future of primary care, which is about recruitment and training in primary care.

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