POLICY UPDATE FROM RCPSYCH IN WALES
CURRENT CONSULTATIONS
Improving Access to Substance Misuse Treatment for Veterans, as part of the Substance Misuse Treatment Framework (SMTF), the Welsh Government is seeking views on improving access to substance misusetreatmentfor veterans.This documentis intended to inform the development of local care pathways and will be relevant to practitioners and those responsible for planning and managing services.Deadline for responses is 20 August. Please email Manel Tippett () Policy Administrator or Dr Raman Sakhuja () Chair of Addictions Faculty in Wales.
CLOSED CONSULTATIONS
For an update on all closed Consultations from September 2012, please click here.
WORK OF THE RCPSYCH IN WALES
The RCPsych in Wales is currently designing a project that will help to gather Members’ views on the implementation of the Mental Health Wales Measure. We plan to design four surveys for the main Faculties: Child and Adolescent, General Adult, Old Age and Learning Disability. We plan to roll these out over the summer. The results of the questionnaire will be discussed at the various faculty meetings. With the hard data and the notes taken from the discussions we can begin to formulate a Position Paper to present to the Welsh Government. We hope that you can spare a few minutes to respond to the survey. Your views are important to us and can help make a difference. We will email members when the questionnaires are ready to be circulated.
MENTAL HEALTH WALES MEASURE
The Welsh Government has chosen a research company to conduct the independent commissioned research on the Mental Health Measure. Opinion Research Services ( is a Welsh Company, established in 1988 in U of Swansea, and it provides mainly research for the public sector.
Gofal has published a report on their findings of a survey on People’s experiences of Primary Care Mental Health Services in Wales.
PLANS AND GUIDANCE
Carwyn Jones sets out the legislative priorities for the third year of the five year legislative programme. Click on the link for details.
The Welsh Government has published its poverty action plan Building Resilient Communities: Taking Forward the Tackling Poverty Action Plan
NICE Quality standards for self harm are now available.
Help is at hand: A self help guide for people affected by suicide living in Wales, designed also for healthcare professionals who help the bereaved. The leaflet was produced by Public Health Wales and the NSAG on Suicide headed by Dr Ann John.
REPORTS
Alcohol Concern Cymru Report: Growing concern as more young people are buying alcohol on-line.
Public Health Wales published its first report on the growth of children at school entry across Wales. 30% of 5 year olds reported to have an unhealthy BMI.
Public Health Wales has published a report looking into the mental health needs of prisoners in Wales. The report also looks at how the Mental Health (Wales) Measure is being implemented in prisons.
(If you have difficulty opening the reports, please contact me)
The 1000 Lives Campaign has produced a White Paper, The Listening Organisation - Ensuring care is person-centred in NHS Wales. In light of Francis, the report says it is vital that healthcare professionals and senior managers in the NHS listen to the needs and concerns of patients.
The CAMHS National Expert Reference Group has published guidance on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. This also covers highly specialist services components including forensic, LD and substance misuse services.
Delivering Safe Care, Compassionate Care is the Welsh Government’s response to the Francis Inquiry report into failings at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust. The report draws on the recommendations of the Francis report and echoes its sentiment. The key future actions include listening to patients, achieving values and expectations, openness and honesty, delivery of safe and compassionate care.
The College has published a Faculty Report on the role of learning disability in-patient services in response to the Winterbourne scandal. The report, People with learning disability and mental health, behavioural or forensic problems: the role of in-patient services, is based on statistics primarily from England although does contain information on other jurisdictions where appropriate.