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In this month's edition...
Adult mental health services consultation
As part of the mental health service review programme, NHS England has launched a consultation on two new service specifications for adult medium and low secure mental health services. These specifications have been developed and tested with the support of lead clinicians and patient and public representatives. The closing date for responses is 11th May. Read more here
New service for women with brain injuries
The Disabilities Trust Foundation has launched a brain injury Linkworker service at HMP Drake Hall. People with brain injuries may experience poor memory, lack of concentration, aggression, problems sleeping and other difficulties which impact on their everyday lives and may make it difficult to engage with rehabilitation programmes. The pilot Linkworker service will deliver direct one-to-one support to women with brain injuries and develop partnerships with health, social care, probation, homelessness, and drug and alcohol services to ensure each woman has the appropriate network in place on discharge from prison. Prison staff will also be provided with brain injury training. Read more here
Increased support to help vulnerable people
The Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition - formed of the national charities Clinks, Homeless Link and Mind – has received £2.78 million in new funding from the Big Lottery Fund to significantly expand support for people with multiple needs across England over the next five years. People with multiple needs face a combination of problems including homelessness, substance misuse, contact with the criminal justice system and mental ill health. Baroness Claire Tyler, Chair of the MEAM coalition, said: “We strongly welcome the support from the Big Lottery Fund for this expansion of our work. We know that by using the MEAM Approach local areas can improve the lives of some of the most disadvantaged people in our society". Read more here
Homelessness rising
More than 4,000 people have been sleeping rough on England's streets each night, a 16% increase on last year. Figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government show more than half of councils in England recorded a rise in rough sleeping compared with the year before. Research by St Mungo's, the homelessness charity, found four in 10 rough sleepers had mental health problems, 41% needed help with alcohol dependency and 31% with drug abuse. Crisis said homelessness was rising at an appalling rate. Read more here
Involving people in health and justice
NHS England has released its new framework for patient and public participation in health and justice. It has several points of action, including that patient and public participation is an essential component of commissioning, that people should be involved early on in the process, and that people using health and justice services may face specific barriers to engagement and should be involved in ways appropriate to their needs. Read more here
Care of offenders with autism
The National Autistic Society is holding a conference [4th-5th April, Manchester, contact for price] on the care and treatment of offenders with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, including autism. The conference aims to help participants learn about new strategies and keep up with research and best practice. You will discover the latest thinking from international speakers, and learn from smaller scale research. Read more and book here
What's new in health and social care
The Race Equality Foundation is holding an event [1st March, Manchester, free] to discuss recent developments in health and social care for the voluntary sector. They will discuss recommendations from the Department of Health VCSE Review into how health and social care should be supporting the voluntary sector. You will also hear about local developments in Manchester and examples of key developments in social prescribing, health and justice, and new models of healthcare. Read more and book here
Young people's health
The Young People’s Health Partnership will be supporting a week of focus [6th - 10th March] to raise awareness of young people’s health and highlight the benefits of effectively engaging with young people. They will look at why young people’s health is important, the role of the youth and voluntary sector in supporting young people’s health, voice, mental health and wellbeing, obesity, sexual health and young people’s rights. Young people will be supporting the week and sharing their priorities and views on Twitter. Look out for updates on Twitter here
Health and care workshops
NHS England is holding its Health and Care Innovation Expo [11th-12th September, Manchester] and is inviting applications to run workshops, and for events and stands. The event aims to unite NHS and care leaders, commissioners, clinicians, voluntary sector partners, innovators, the private-sector and media. Read more here
Working with faith groups
The Local Government Association and FaithAction have published, 'Working with faith groups to promote health and wellbeing'. The report discusses the important contribution that faith groups make to health work through their commitment to service, both with their own members and with wider communities. In particular, the report discusses how faith groups are often able to utilise the enthusiasm of their members as volunteers. Members of some faith groups face health inequalities through a higher risk of certain diseases or through difficulties in accessing healthcare. Faith groups can use their experiences to promote health equality. Read more here
Young Londoners in the justice system
Peer Power has launched its report ‘Just Health- An Enquiry into the Emotional Health and Wellbeing of Young People in the Youth Justice System’. The charity was commissioned by NHS England (London) to facilitate consultation and engagement with children and young people to see how London’s NHS could improve their work with young people in the youth justice system. The report's recommendations aim to improve the emotional support and wellbeing that young people receive. Lord McNally, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board, said: "We already know that access to mental healthcare and emotional wellbeing services is poor for children in the youth justice system, and the findings of this report go some way to illustrating how this could be improved". Read the report here
Health inequalities in criminal justice
Public Health England (PHE) has worked with Revolving Doors, the Home Office and NHS England to publish 'Rebalancing Act'. It is a resource for Directors of Public Health, Police and Crime Commissioners and other system leaders at local, regional and national level, to support collaborative work to improve health, reduce offending and health inequalities among people in contact with the criminal justice system. Duncan Selbie, PHE Chief Executive said "People in touch with the criminal justice system are more likely to smoke, experience depression and have overall poorer health than the general population...Crime prevention and the prevention of ill health go hand in hand. This resource will help local health and crime prevention experts end this travesty, improve health across local populations and reduce re-offending rates" Read more here
State of child health
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has launched its 'State of Child Health' report, which brings together data on a comprehensive list of 25 measures of the health of UK children. The measures range from specific conditions such as asthma, diabetes and epilepsy; risk factors for poor health such as obesity and a low rate of breastfeeding; to child deaths. The report finds strong links between poverty/deprivation and poor health outcomes, something which affects a high proportion of children of offenders. Read more here
The right to health
The World Health Organization has published 'Advancing the right to health: the vital role of law'. The report aims to raise awareness about the role that the reform of public health laws can play in advancing the right to health and in creating the conditions for people to live healthy lives. The report highlights important issues that may arise during the process of public health law reform. It provides guidance about issues and requirements to be addressed during the process of developing public health laws. It also includes case studies and examples of legislation from a variety of countries to illustrate effective law reform practices and some features of effective public health legislation. Read more here
Lottery funded health projects
Entries are open for the National Lottery Awards 2017. The Awards are open to projects that have received Lottery funding at any time since 1994. The main beneficiaries of the project must be based in the UK. Entries can be made in several award categories including voluntary and charity, education and health. The winner in each category will receive a cash prize of £3,000, which can be put towards their project. Winners will be determined by a public vote and will appear at a BBC One Awards Ceremony. The deadline to enter is 7th April. Read more here
Tackling tuberculosis
Public Health England (PHE) has launched a resource to tackle tuberculosis in under-served populations and hard to reach communities. Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease still associated with social deprivation. In 2015, rates of TB among people living in the most deprived areas of England were nearly six times as high as those living in wealthier areas, with a clear trend of an increasing rate of TB with increasing deprivation. Adults in contact with the criminal justice system are more than five times as likely to suffer from TB as the general population. The PHE resource is designed to improve understanding of the health needs of these communities in relation to TB, and to support the design and delivery of multi-agency programmes and services to better meet those needs. Read more here
What should we expect of drug treatment?
Russell Webster has written a summary of Public Health England's 'An evidence review of the outcomes of drug misuse treatment in England'. The report found several key areas where England performed well, including that over 60% of opioid users were receiving treatment, as well as several key areas of concern. The blog discusses the outcome of the report, how drug treatment in England compares internationally, future challenges, social factors and the benefits of investing in treatment. Read the blog here
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About Clinks Offender Health Bulletin
This regular bulletin provides Clinks members with the latest news for voluntary sector organisations involved in the health and care of offenders. It currently has 3,445 subscribers.
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Designed, composed and circulated by Rhiannedd Mclean, Clinks.