Blog

How reliable is the data collected about detentions under the Mental Health Act? Veena Raleigh looks at the data quality issues and their implications.

With the publication of the government’s Green Paper on child and adolescent mental health, Jill Roberts looks at how it tackles the issues around inequalities.

Building relationships is central to the success of work under way to enhance health in care homes. Susie Perks-Baker looks at how respecting each other’s skills and knowledge can help.

Veena Raleigh looks at the current debate around the slow-down in mortality improvements in England and Wales.

Can we reduce late-life dependency or plan for it better? David Oliver reflects on the findings of a recent Lancet paper and asks what we can do to tackle the challenges it highlights.

Chris Naylor considers whether public mental health is being prioritised in a world of thinly stretched public health budgets.

Quality improvement is not a quick fix, and creating the type of cultural change needed to adapt an organisation's whole approach to quality does take time, says Shilpa Ross.

Helen Gilburt explores the prominence of mental health in the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat manifestos.

Alongside the launch of our report on mental health and new models of care, Chris Naylor explores some of the benefits of investing in mental health.

David Buck explores whether machine learning can help find wider meaning in millions of unstructured online conversations about our health.

The extra £2 billion for adult social care announced in the Spring Budget will be gratefully received, but local councils now face tough choices about where to allocate the money. Richard Humphries considers the context.

What are the organisational development challenges in establishing a new service model? Mandip Kaur reflects on her experience at Forward Thinking Birmingham, an innovative mental health partnership.

Quality improvement requires commitment, resources and strong leadership to deliver sustainable results. Shilpa Ross looks at what we can learn from mental health organisations.

The government expects councils and NHS partners to achieve way too much, with too little, too soon, says Richard Humphries.

How long is it reasonable to wait for treatment of depression after being referred by a GP? The results from the 2013 British Social Attitudes Survey are revealing and suggest that public expectations exceed current policy ambitions.

There is a growing disquiet around mental health. Across the board people are calling for change, but what exactly is it that needs to be done and how can we bring about the ‘parity of esteem’ that we all seek?

I agreed with much of what Simon Stevens said at the Age UK For Later Life conference until he stated that he would be ‘disappointed’ if care homes still existed within the next 50 years. I didn’t get the chance to challenge him but I want to do it now.

Although earlier rumours of the demise of the Better Care Fund – the government’s £3.8 billion pooled fund to promote integrated care – have turned out to be greatly exaggerated, the significance of the government’s latest announcement about the fund should not be.

We have ample evidence of what good care for older people looks like and numerous service models delivering it, yet we aren’t very good at disseminating good practice, and worse still at adopting and implementing improvements at scale and pace.

Back in the summer of 2013, Jeremy Hunt announced a public consultation on a new plan to improve care for vulnerable older people. This was finally published last month, but what does the plan mean for older people's care?