The Making Decisions Alliance, a coalition of leading UK charities including Age Concern, Rethink, Mind, the Mental Health Foundation and Carers UK, has welcomed amendments to the Mental Capacity Bill which will give greater power to those who have a limited capacity to make decisions…
Healthcare Investigation launched
The Disability Rights Commission has launched a formal investigation into the health care received by people with long term mental illness and people with learning disabilities…
Cardigan Worst in Wales for “Hurried Woman Syndrome”
Women in Cardigan are the most likely in Wales to suffer from “hurried woman syndrome” and are liable to encounter high stress and anxiety levels, mild depression and low self-esteem, a new report suggests…
New Research Reveals High Suicide Rate for Wales
Newly released data from the Office for National statistics shows that the suicide rate in Wales is higher than in any of the England regions.
Whilst the adult suicide rate per 100,000 population in 2003 was 11.4 for England and Wales as a whole, the rate for Wales alone was 13.9. The rate of male suicide in Wales per 100,000 population was 22.5, compared to 17.6 for England and Wales combined; the rate for Women in Wales was 5.5 per 100,000 population, compared to 5.7 overall…
Interview: Penny Roberts, Mental Health Liaison Officer for the South Wales Police
I was appointed as Force Mental Health Liaison Officer in July of 2004. Up until that time I was carrying out duties as a community beat officer and my knowledge of mental health issues was much the same as many other beat officers – very basic! I certainly did not realise the prevalence of mental illness and how it can affect any one of us at any time…”
Interview: Maria Hayes
Maria Hayes devises and delivers art workshops which have a theraputic value, and she recently ran successful sessions at the Annual Conference of Hafal, Wales’ principal organization working for people with severe mental illness. We talk to her about the benefits of being creative…
Draft Mental Health Bill “unethical” says British Medical Association
The British Medical Association (BMA) has expressed extreme concerns to the Scrutiny Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill. The Association claims that as the Bill stands it is unethical, unworkable and in conflict with the Human Rights Act…
Incapacity Benefit Reform: what’s it all about?
Last week plans for big changes in incapacity benefits were unveiled by Work and Pensions Secretary Alan Johnson.
The new plans would see incapacity benefit split into two new benefits: Rehabilitation Support Allowance and Disability and Sickness Allowance. This would differentiate between those on incapacity benefit who have a “severe condition” and those with “potentially more manageable conditions”…
First national ethnicity census next month
‘Count Me In’, the first national mental health ethnicity census, is set to take place on March 31st 2005. The census is part of a national programme aiming to improve services for people with a mental illness and their carers from black and minority ethnic communities…
News Round-up 26.01.04
We look at the latest news stories in each of the eight areas of the Whole Person Approach to recovery from a mental illness: