In December 2009 Changing Minds was commissioned to carry out an audit of the process and outcomes of delivering Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) in the East Midlands region from staff and service user perspectives. The aim of the audit was to evaluate IPT as a high intensity intervention by:

• Evaluating the pre-course experience of trainees on IPT training and their views of the course as participants
• Describing the decision-making processes when IPT is chosen as the preferred method of intervention
• Evaluating satisfaction outcome measures for IPT ‘sponsors’ (commissioners, managers, trainers), therapists, and service users

The sample was comprised from:

• cohorts of trainees accessing the East Midlands IPT programmes (in 2009/10)
• The sponsors, supervisors and trainers of the IPT training programme
• Trained IPT therapists delivering the intervention in the East Midlands
• Service users accessing IPT

The methods used in the audit were:

• A structured questionnaires for IPT trainees/therapists
• A structured questionnaire for ‘sponsors’
• A structured questionnaire for patients who were receiving or had completed IPT intervention
• A second structured questionnaire only for those patients who had completed IPT intervention
• In-depth semi-structured telephone interviews for IPT trainees/therapists

The questionnaires were distributed during January and February 2010 and were returned throughout the months to April and the data was entered and analysed during that month. The in-depth telephone interviews took place in April 2010 and were analysed during May.

The report, which has been produced in collaboration with Changing Minds, can be downloaded here: 

Our 2009/10 Annual reports are now available to download here: http://www.eastmids.org.uk/about/200910-emdc-annual-reports/

There are 2 reports available, one covering Mental Health and Offender Health and the other Children and Families and CAMHS services.

We’d love to receive your feedback so please email jonathon.king@eastmidlands.nhs.uk with your comments.

The June issue of our e-bulletin Walkabout is now available to download here: http://www.eastmids.org.uk/about/walkabout/

This paper reports on a Conference held in December 2009 to consider the findings of a review of local Emergency Department’s treatment and management of people who have self harmed. The Review considered approximately 30 consecutive self harm attendances at each of the 9 major Emergency Departments in the East Midlands. Its findings are set out here in relation to NICE’s July 2004 clinical guidelines on the short term physical and psychological management of self harm in Emergency Departments.
The review was undertaken by Keith Waters, Suicide Prevention Manager at the East Midlands Development Centre by means of medical records interrogation and semi structured interviews with staff. The review concluded that there is good practice throughout the East Midlands but this is not always consistent. The paper highlights locations with good practice against the following headings:

• Triage
• Children
• Admission and Assessment
• Documentation

This paper highlights key messages from the Conference and summarizes local work which has been started on the back of local discussions held at the conference itself.

Download the document please click the following link: Suicide Report.pdf (500kb PDF document)

It may well feel like a while since New Horizons was launched (just a bit over 3 months) but a lot seems to have happened in that time; in particular the implications of the financial constraints on the economy. This has increased the pace at which we address productivity issues but also when New Horizons was launched, it very much built on the prevention message and stressed the importance of employment for people with mental health problems.

We decided that it might be helpful to examine New Horizons and number of other documents that arrived around the same time and had inter-related messages.

We hope this will help more people access the important visions and evidence detailed is a short summary of 5 papers. In addition we have provided a summary of each of the papers.

In this way people can make the most of the evidence and key policy factors that are conveyed in these seminal papers.

We welcome feedback on the value of this summary paper.

Dean Repper

Director of EMDC, Associate Director NHS East Midlands

To download the document please click the following link:

(opens in new window) 1.4mb PDF

Contact: Adrian Lowther Communications and External Relations Lead

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies

Tel: 0207 9721 383

www.iapt.nhs.uk

The following statistics were released today by the Department of Health:

Since March 1994, the Department of Health has placed a set of questions on TNS’s Face-to-Face Consumer Omnibus about public attitudes towards mental illness. From 1994 to 1997 the questions were asked on an annual basis and then every third year up until 2003. 

Since 2007 the survey has again been carried out annually. The surveys serve as a benchmark, enabling measurement of whether attitudes are improving or worsening over time. The questionnaire included a number of statements about mental illness.  Respondents were asked to indicate how much they agreed or disagreed with each statement.

Key points from the report:

- People are broadly sympathetic towards people with a mental illness.

- Some attitudes towards people with mental illness are worse compared to when the Department of Health first commissioned the poll in 1994 although a number have improved.  Several attitudes that had worsened over the period up until 1997 have since improved.

- Attitudes to a number of statements have changed between 2009 and 2010.

- Opinions on some statements changed towards greater tolerance, for example:
‘Locating mental health facilities in a residential area downgrades the neighbourhood’ – agreement with this statement decreased from 21% to 18%.

- Some opinions moved more in favour of integrating people with mental illness into the community, for example:
‘Residents have nothing to fear from people coming into their neighbourhood to obtain mental health services’ – agreement with this statement increased from 62% to 66%.

- On one item though, opinions moved less in favour of integration:
‘Mental hospitals are an outdated means of treating people with mental illness’ – agreement with this statement fell from 37% in 2009 to 33% in 2010.

The full report is available from this link: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_114795

Contacts

Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk

The plan aligns the CQC’s corporate strategy for 2010-15 which was published in February, setting out their overall direction and priorities for regulation and Improvement in health and social care.

The action plan sets out the priorities that CQC have identified through consultation and engagement where it is thought a difference can be made to services for people with mental health needs. The plan covers the range of regulated sectors and service settings in this field, encompassing a whole life approach. CQC recognise in particular the importance of taking a whole systems approach to the regulation of this sector because of how crucial integrated, joined up working is to promoting recovery from mental ill health and to ensuring positive social, economic and quality of life outcomes.

The plan can be downloaded from the CQC website here: http://www.cqc.org.uk/aboutcqc/whatwedo.cfm

http://www.afternow.co.uk/

The Principles for Transition

Guidance materials to improve transition into adult life for young people with additional needs 

Based upon a young people’s charter

The East Midlands Development Centre is pleased to present this guidance and the important contribution it can make to improve the experience for young people with additional needs as they approach adult life. It has been compiled as a joint project between colleagues in the NHS, children’s and adults’ service departments within the region’s councils and the third sector.

While we recognise that much of the practice within the region’s organisations and partnerships often displays aspects of good practice, continuous improvement to secure a consistently high transitional experience remains one of this region’s priorities.

It is our ambition that all young people with additional needs across the region are consistently supported through the transitional stage by practice underpinned by the principles contained within this guidance booklet and by organisations that aspire to the high standard expected by young people as expressed within the charter.

We consequently recommend the guidance within this booklet to all those working to support and improve transition strategies within the East Midlands. The Young People’s Charter, the Recommended Principles and Practical Examples provide a range of opportunities to evaluate service quality and to prioritise areas
for improvement. We thank all those who have contributed in any way to this work and now encourage colleagues to use them effectively to improve young people’s experience.

Heather Sahman – East Midlands Development Centre

To download a copy of the guidance in pdf format, please click the following link: