Friday, 9 November
2012
On Thursday 8 November I was privileged to
attend 10 Downing Street to mark the launch of Dementia
Friends, which is encouraging people to use their know-how to
help people with dementia feel understood and included in their
community.
It was good to hear the Prime Minister’s
pledges, but I was particularly struck by listening to people who
are or have been carers for people with dementia. I learnt
about how attitudes toward those with dementia play out across
different cultures.
Sometimes the crucial role of psychiatry in
supporting people with dementia isn’t fully appreciated, and our
Faculty of the Psychiatry of Old Age has an important role to
play in promoting education, expert advice and professional
development in this crucial area.
I had a very useful catch up with our new
workforce lead, Aideen O’Halloran. Recruitment into psychiatry is a
priority for the College and we are now into the second year of our
recruitment strategy.
I also paid a visit to Rugby School, where
I encouraged students with the aim and ambition to pursue a career
in medicine do psychiatry. I was impressed by what a bright and
enthusiastic group of students they were, with the key attributes
of empathy and compassion.
I was delighted to see that Professor Simon
Wessely, a Fellow of the College, was the joint inaugural winner of
the Ford Maddox
prize, which rewards individuals who have promoted sound
science and evidence on a matter of public interest, with an
emphasis on those who have faced difficulty or opposition in doing
so.
Simon has done incredible work in the
mental health of military personnel and veterans, and chronic
fatigue syndrome. He has demonstrated substantial overlap in
symptoms between chronic fatigue syndrome and clinical depression
and has developed a treatment approach using cognitive-behavioural
therapy techniques, which has been tested in large clinical trials
and can now be found in the NICE guidelines. And he has done all of
this despite a sustained campaign against his work from some
quarters, so many congratulations.
A busy week lies ahead with the publication
of the NHS mandate to the NHS commissioning board, which will set
out the care objectives for the improvement of healthcare. Along
with colleagues from the voluntary sector and other Royal medical
colleges, we have had a great deal of input into this.
Next week will also see publication of the
Schizophrenia Commission, which I await with interest.
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