Well Being
Coroners data recording survey
We were interested to find out more about the level of ethnicity data recorded by coroners in suicide cases. A short survey was sent to London coroners to find out what data was recorded and how this data links into external recording systems. From the limited response rate, the following findings emerged:
- record of ethnicity in suicide cases, in the majority of coroner’s inquests, was not collected either through coroner’s report or through information provided by the police
- protocols or strategies for recording ethnicity data did not exist and there are no plans to develop these
- suggestions for improvements to ethnicity data collection focused on high level parliamentary changes to relevant Acts, increases to funding coroner’s office allocations and targeted information collection through the Registrar General.
- future research into the possible links between ethnicity data collection and suicide was proposed
On 17 July 2008, The Coroners (Amendment) Rules came into power. Rule 43 of the amended rules strengthened coroners' powers to make reports where they consider action should be taken to prevent future deaths.
New requirements include:
- organisations receiving a report must respond to the coroner in writing within 56 days outlining what action, if any, is being taken;
- coroners will be required to share the reports and responses with interested persons to the inquest (including family members) and the Lord Chancellor; and
- coroners and the Lord Chancellor will have the authority to share reports and responses with any others who might find them useful or of interest.
Mental Health and Work
Please see the social inclusion pages on the London Mental Health and Employment Partnership
Mental Health Scorecard
We commissioned the London Health Observatory to help us develop a Mental Health Scorecard covering a number of mental health indicators and mental health service indicators for London.
Physical Activity and Mental Health
We worked with Sport England and NHS London to survey physical activity initiatives in Mental Health and Primary Care Trusts in London. A report on the survey's findings can be viewed here.
We are also supporting the expansion of the Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) league for people with experience of mental illness. The PMA has demonstrated the impact of joining a football team for peoples’ mental and physical health. It has attracted much interest and a full evaluation is now being done.
Population Mental Health Network
In October, the London Population Mental Health network will be merging with the South East Development Centre network. The network is for those actively involved in public mental health. It is held quarterly to coordinate information sharing across NHS London and South East, to provide information on policy updates, as well as informing policy consultations. The network covers the whole spectrum of Public Mental Health at population level, including specific populations and specialist services responses as well as health promotion and primary care. If you think it would be appropriate for you to join the network please contact lauren.milner@ldc.org.uk; 0207 307 2431.
Quit Smoking in Mental Health Settings
On 1 July 2008, in accordance with new smoke free legislation all mental health units, including residential settings (wards), were made smoke-free. The NHS agreed the new smokefree legislation will cover buildings on NHS service sites.
Primary Care Trusts are required by Department of Health to record the number of patients, using stop smoking services, who quit smoking for 4 weeks. This indicator will continue to be monitored by Healthcare CommissionAnnual health check 2008/2009.
Click here to read a letter from Louis Appleby to Mental Health Trusts outlining the new smokefree legislation for mental health units.
To support preparation for the new legislation in July 2008, we commissioned Smoke Free Minds to provide (level 3) training to Mental Health Trust. the training enabled trainees who completed the course to train other staff in the delivery quit smoking interventions. Mental health awareness training for NHS quit smoking services staff (Primary Care Trusts) was also delivered. Training was carried out from Spring to Winter 2008. A full project report can be downloaded here.
On 25 June, we held a conference to review Smokefree & LDC training project in preparation for 1st July legislation. Presentations were provided by
To view a summary of questions and answers from the conference click here.
Suicide Audit
In London we support the use of the suicide prevention audit toolkit. Suicide audit in Primary Care Trust localities (NIMHE/DH) is a tool for PCTs to collect data on suicide at a population level. The National Confidential Inquiry into suicide and homicide by people with mental illness collects data on suicides where the individual was in contact with secondary mental health services 12 months prior to suicide. The PCT suicide audit provides important information not picked up by NCI but combined with this data provides a valuable overview of suicides in England.
We contacted PCTs to examine the use of the toolkit. The survey reported:
- suicide prevention strategies were informed by suicide audits;
- data from the audit was raised to the board / steering group with recommendations for service improvement;
- existing staffing structures were used to distribute the audit tool and clinical governance staff would follow-up whether the tool was being using in practice;
- the important role of coroners in partnership working was identified;
- frequency of suicide audits has reduced;
- barriers to implementation included staff capacity and resistance from key partners to work together and exchange information.
Suicide Prevention
The LDC team is supporting implementation of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy in England (DH 2002). Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation (DH 1999) sets out a target to reduce suicide rates within London by 20% by 2010. In London the rate of reduction in suicide rates is slowing down.
Suicide Prevention Training Pilot in Hackney
Untoward deaths among Turkish-speaking males in Hackney have increased since July 2007. We plan to deliver support to the Turkish community in Hackney through offering Mental Health First Aid training to Derman (a community group) to increase mental health awareness and knowledge around suicide prevention.
The Mental Health of Londoners
We work with a number of bodies across London to provide advice and information about mental health and to make contributions to their work. These include;
Forthcoming Events
In early 2009, we will be holding a smokefree mental health conference to discuss the progress that has been made in London since new smokefree legislation was implemented. If you are interested in hearing more about this conference please contact lauren.milner@ldc.org.uk
