What's new!

JCP-MH Volume 2 Wave 1 Descriptors

The JCP-MH have now published their first four commissioning guides. These are aimed at commissioners of mental health services and describe what a ‘good’ service configuration should look like, bringing together scientific evidence, service user and carer experience, and case studies of best practice.

The JCP-MH have also published a new summary briefing – what is the JCP?

Prison Transfers: a survey

The College has produced a report which has drawn upon the experiences and the expertise of psychiatrists working within prisons and hospitals to identify some of the delays in transfering prisoners with mental health problems to appropriate health care settings.

This project arose from Lord Bradley's review of people with mental health problems in the criminal justice system. This review contained a recommendation that the Department of Health develop a new minimum target for the NHS of 14 days to transfer a prisoner with acute, severe mental illness to an appropriate healthcare setting as quickly and as smoothly as possible. This report is an opportunity to highlight good practice within these settings.

Do the right thing: how to judge a good ward

Distilled from existing working-age inpatient ward standards, this new Occasional Paper by the College aims to (a) offer a useful minimum checklist of standards for managers and commissioners of services to apply in strategic planning and in assessing for themselves the quality of their wards; and (b) to provide elaboration of the ten standards drawing on the evidence of current practice as found by the reviewing bodies.

It is hoped that this report will make the case that in-patient services need continued investment to make patient experience healthier, safer and more conducive to proper clinical recovery and rehabilitation.

Developing services to improve the quality of life of young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders, emotional/neurotic disorders and emerging personality disorder

This Occasional Paper pulls together – for the first time – research which shows that, in terms of quality of life, neurodevelopmental disorders, emotional/neurotic disorders and emerging personality disorder have as great an impact, or greater, than physical health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, back problems, Parkinson's disease or rheumatic disease.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists hopes that reading this document will prompt commissioners, clinicians and providers to develop better services for these young people and thereby improve their quality of life.

Diversion: the business case for action

The Centre for Mental Health, Rethink and the Royal College of Psychiatrists have recently published a briefing paper on Diversion. Diversion: the business case for action makes the economic case for the importance of diversion, an approach which seeks to ensure that people with mental health problems who come into contact with the police and courts are identified and directed towards appropriate mental health care, particularly as an alternative to imprisonment.

Making the case for a rehabilitation facility: Helping psychiatrists to work together with commissioners and senior service managers by Tom Edwards, Richard Meier and Helen Killaspy

This document, produced by the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Rehabilitation and Social Psychiatry with assistance from the Policy Unit, aims to skill up rehabilitation psychiatrists and ensure that they have the necessary information and tools to influence their fellow professionals in commissioning and service management.

Position Statement on Public Mental Health: No Health Without Mental Health: The Case for Action

Prior to the launch of the Government’s public health proposals, the College produced a position statement, No Health without Public Mental Health: The Case for Action. The College also launched a shorter parliamentary briefing to accompany the position statement.

These documents were launched at an All-Party Parliamentary Group on mental health meeting at which the Rt Hon Steven Dorrell MP, Chair of the Health Select Committee, was the keynote speaker. This launch was well attended by MPs and Peers and stakeholders with an interest in public health.

Following the launch, the issue was debated in the House of Lords and discussed in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The College’s work in promoting public mental health was successful in ensuring that the Public Health White Paper, launched on 30^th October, had an important focus on mental health.

Commissioning mental health services in England: a collaboration between RCPsych, RCGP, NMHDU, and the NHS Confederation

The new White Paper document, Liberating the NHS: Commissioning for Patients, signals a significant shift in the way in which many mental health services will be commissioned and held to account.

Commissioning for Patients details the Government's intentions to introduce both GP-led commissioning and a new NHS Commissioning Board.

Self-harm, Suicide and Risk: Helping People who Self-harm

This College report (CR158) looks at why people harm and kill themselves and considers the role (including the limits of the role) that psychiatrists and other mental healthcare professionals play in their care and treatment. The experiences and views of people who harm themselves as well as those of their carers, health professionals and third-sector workers are central to this enquiry.

Responses to Consultations

The Policy Unit plays a key policy and administrative role in ensuring that the College responds to consultations that may impact upon psychiatrists, service users, carers and the mental health world more broadly.