The secondNational Audit of Schizophrenia – which assesses the care for peopleaffected by schizophrenia who are living in the community in England and Wales- has been published. The report finds that:-
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intervention for serious physical health problems continues to be below acceptable standards
- The availability of talking therapies remains inadequate for those who want them
- Some people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia are also being prescribed medication in excess of recommended doses and over half of those whose illness has not responded well to standard medications have had to wait too long to receive clozapine.
Responding to report, Alun Thomas, Deputy Chief Executive of Welsh mentalhealth charity Hafal, said: “The audit echoes exactly what our Membershave been saying: that the physical health of patients is not being properlyaddressed; that talking treatments are not sufficiently available, and thatthere needs to be improvement in the way medications are prescribed.
“This year Hafal and its partners Bipolar UK, theMental health Foundation and Diverse Cymru have responded by campaigningprecisely on these three issues: our Let’s GetPhysical! campaign promoted ways to tackle the physical health issuesfacing people with a serious mental illness; our new treatments campaign – dueto launch later this month – aims to promote better access to talkingtherapies, and to promote choice and best practice in the prescribing ofmedication.”