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Other news
England’s dementia strategy gets
director
Professor Alistair Burns will lead the
dementia strategy for England. His job is to promote better care of
people with dementia within the NHS and social care communities.
“In the past few years, there has been a great deal of public
interest in dementia and several influential initiatives, in
particular the national dementia strategy. The challenge now is to
build on this to make a real positive difference to people with
dementia, their families and carers. I very much look forward to
working with colleagues to realise this ambition,” said Professor
Burns.
Changes to mental health
legislation
This letter from David Flory, CBE (Director
General of NHS Finance, Performance and Operations) and Christine
Beasley, DBE (Chief Nursing Officer) explains how
mental health legislation will change from 1 April 2010.
Section 131A of the Mental Health Act 1983 places a duty on
hospital managers to ensure that under 18s are treated in a
suitable hospital environment that has regard to their age (subject
to their needs).
Thinking of applying to be
a tribunal member? Get experience by being a dry run candidate
The Judicial Appointments Commission is
looking for consultant psychiatrists to help us test a role-play,
which will be used to assess candidates who applied earlier this
year to be a tribunal member. To be a test candidate you would need
to be available for about two hours in London on 9 March. You would
receive £80 and reasonable travel expenses. For further
information, email Jackie Green or tel: 020
3334 0350. You may want to apply in future to work as a specialist member of a
tribunal. Being a dry run candidate is an extremely valuable
opportunity for anyone considering applying in the future.
Payment by results (PbR) website
The Department of Health's Payment by Results (PbR) team
strives to keep clinicians up to date with key information. Find
out more information about PbR website.
British Indian Psychiatric
Association (BIPA) Trainee Research Award
The BIPA invites all psychiatry trainees or
non-consultant grade psychiatrists of Indian origin working in the
United Kingdom to apply for this year’s Trainee Research
Award. The three short-listed candidates are expected to
present their work at the BIPA annual conference on 5-6 June 2010,
Wotton Hall, Surrey. The winner receives a prize of £500 and there
are certificates for the two runners-up.
New website for Independent Advisory
Panel for Deaths in Custody
The Panel which provides independent advice to
ministers on deaths in state custody has launched a new
website. It includes details of panel members, meetings,
lessons learned from deaths in custody and guidance on preventing
deaths.
Comprehensive review of the
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
The MOD has published the results of the
comprehensive review of the
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. Key changes include
increasing the maximum award for mental illness and the setting up
of a new expert medical body to advise on compensation for
particular injuries and illnesses. There will also be improvements
to the way in which the scheme is communicated to service personnel
and their families.
More mental health help needed for
war veterans
The Government is not doing enough to stop
Afghanistan war veterans plunging into alcohol problems, crime and
suicide. This appeal for action came after it emerged veterans
under the age of 24 are two to three times more likely to kill
themselves than others of the same age.
New teen partner violence
campaign
As a first step in the long-term commitment to
change public attitudes towards violence against women and girls,
the government has launched a marketing campaign to tackle
attitudes to violence in teenagers. Information about
the campaign and safeguarding guidance for NHS professionals is
available on the campaign website.
Young people asked to
nominate favourite reads for 2010 award
YoungMinds is inviting people to nominate
books written for youngsters of 12 and over for the
YoungMinds Book Award 2010. Books must be works of fiction or
biography and must encourage self-esteem and help young people to
cope with the stresses and challenges of growing up. Nominations
are open until 24 April and books must have been published, or be
due to be published, between 1 June 2009 and 31 May 2010. Email for more information
and an application form.
Australian of the Year
“A psychiatrist as Australian of the Year –
now that’s what I call climate change,” said Professor Patrick
McGorry, a pioneer of early intervention psychiatry, as he was
named awarded Australia’s highest honour by Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd. Professor McGorry is head of Orygen Research Centre in
Melbourne and the federal government's network of Headspace youth mental health
centres. He wasted no time in saying he would use his accolade
as a platform to lobby Mr Rudd to process claims by asylum-seekers
while they were residing in the community, instead of detention
centres which he labelled "factories for producing mental
illness".
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