19 November 2013
We need to transform healthcare in this country
Paul Burstow MP talks about a visitor to his constituency surgery.
15 November 2013
Giving local services users a voice
When I was elected as the MP for Loughborough in 2010, I promised that one of the issues I would focus on in parliament was mental health.
9 October 2013
Taking control of employment support
This week a major new report from Disability Rights UK has highlighted the weaknesses of the government’s major employment programmes in supporting disabled people to get and keep paid work.
27 September 2013
#mentalpatient: the end of the beginning
Yesterday two retail giants were shamed and forced into taking products off their shelves by the power of people.
23 July 2013
Peer support in mental health care: is it good value for money?
Increasing numbers of peer support workers are now being employed in mental health services.
24 June 2013
Mental health: the whole picture
Community budgets that pool funding for services could dramatically improve mental health provision. This ‘whole place’ approach should be backed in the Spending review.
13 March 2013
What the Francis report means for mental healthcare
Originally posted in the HSJ blog Leadership in Mental Health, 6 February, 2013 The Francis report today set out some 290 recommendations to protect NHS patients from neglect and poor care. The report’s recommendations reach across the health services, from the accountability of individual professionals for their own conduct to the roles of the national
21 November 2012
The Schizophrenia Commission report sets out a radical, positive agenda to change mental health services
The recent Schizophrenia Commission report, The Abandoned Illness, has shone a strong light on the way we as a society respond to people with psychosis.
9 May 2012
What is this thing we call peer support?
Gene Johnson, CEO and President of Recovery Innovations in Arizona, discusses the role of peer worker and the success of the projects he’s led.
30 April 2012
We need a holistic approach to mental ill-health and homelessness
Poor mental health is widely recognised as both a cause and a consequence of homelessness.
7 March 2012
Improving comorbity care is a key challenge for mental health
Long-term physical illnesses affect 30% of the population of England, or some 15 million people. Mental health conditions affect about 10 million of us.
28 December 2011
Safe and secure housing is critical to the wellbeing of mental health patients
Having somewhere safe and secure to live is one of the basic requirements of human life.