Mental Health

Private mental health group The Priory fined £300,000 over death of 14-year-old girl

17.04.19: Private mental health group The Priory healthcare group has been fined £300,000 for breaching health and safety laws following the death of 14-year-old Amy El-Keria. El-Keria was treated at Priory Group’s Ticehurst House psychia...

Mental health hospital placed into special measures after claims of abuse and unexplained injuries

12.04.19: An Essex mental health hospital has been placed into special measures after allegations of abuse of patients by staff and a number of incidents of unexplained injuries to patients. Inspectors found that “safety was not a priority&rdqu...

Improving patient flow in west London

10.04.19: Sonya Clinch, West London NHS Trust’s head of operations for access and urgent care, tells us how her trust dealt with significant pressures in its services. Maintaining good patient flow is challenging in many trusts, often because t...

South London and Maudsley Mental Health Trust appoints new chief executive from its neighbour

05.04.19: A leading London mental health trust has appointed the chief executive of a neighbouring trust as its new leader. David Bradley is to leave St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) after seven years at the helm, and takes up the...

Rolling out mental health trials in schools

03.04.19: Anna Moore and Dr Daniel Hayes, researchers at the Evidence Based Practice Unit (UCL and Anna Freud Centre), discuss their leading research into mental health and wellbeing in schools. As recently announced by the education secretary Damian...

‘Impulsive’ nurse held votes on a patient fight on a Norfolk hospital mental health ward

02.04.19: A nurse at Queen Elizabeth Hospital asked patients to vote on whether they wanted to see two other patients on a mental health ward fight, a misconduct hearing has found. Mental health nurse Steven Boyd used the “inappropriate de-esca...

No-one gets left behind: NHS Staff and Learners’ Mental Wellbeing Commission

27.03.19: Professor Simon Gregory, Health Education England’s (HEE) primary care lead, discusses the NHS Staff and Learners’ Mental Wellbeing Commission final report. There are 1.4 million people in the NHS taking care of the health needs...

What progress are we making to transform our population’s mental health?

25.03.19: Professor Gillian Leng, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Health and Social Care at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence - NICE - provides her view of the newly published NICE impact report on mental health. Mental hea...

Fiction as Therapy

20.03.19: Elaine Bousfield of ZunTold Publishing – a press specialising in fiction for children and young people – discusses ‘Fiction as Therapy’, and how it can be used as a therapeutic tool for young people. Helping children...

Sussex trust faces ‘unlimited fine’ after failing in care of suicidal teenager

07.03.19: Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has pleaded guilty to failing to provide safe care to a 19-year-old who died under its supervision, and could now face an unprecedented fine following a criminal conviction brought against the trust by the...

Major concerns remain over NHS-wide ‘unsafe’ mental health wards despite some improvements

26.02.19: The CQC remains concerned about the quality and safety of mental health wards across England despite seeing some improvement from trusts in planning for patients subject to the Mental Health Act. After carrying out over 1,000 visits to ment...

England’s only NHS gender clinic ‘too quick’ to give gender reassignment treatment, says ex-governor

25.02.19: A former governor of England’s only NHS gender clinic has aired his concerns with the trust, claiming that clinicians are searching for “quick solutions” when working with children and young people in the clinic. Dr Marcus...

NHS staff to receive ‘fast-track’ mental health support as part of wellbeing plans

21.02.19: The government has pledged to provide better mental health and wellbeing support for NHS staff as part of its ‘workforce implementation plan,’ based on the recommendations of Health Education England’s (HEE) Staff and Learners&...

Suicidal NHS employee unfairly dismissed after being issued with ‘appalling’ legal threat by trust

20.02.19: An NHS staff member was threatened with legal action by an ambulance trust after he reported feeling suicidal and was unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal ruled, in the most “appalling response” judges had seen. The tribun...

Priory Group to close High Wycombe hospital after damning CQC report places it in special measures

13.02.19: A hospital for young people with learning disabilities run by a private mental health group has been put in special measures after a damning CQC report. The group has subsequently decided to apply to de-register the hospital and transfer its pat...