In this month's edition...
Mental health and criminal justice
The Howard League for Penal Reform’s annual Parmoor Lecture was delivered by Max Hill QC, Director of Public Prosecutions. His lecture focused on mental health and the criminal justice system. He concluded that criminal law has a long way to go in making sure that those with mental health conditions who find themselves in the criminal justice system are being treated fairly. He suggested that more needs to be done to ensure that the system supports good decisions on whether a case should be taken through the criminal justice system, or diverted. Read the full speech here
Traumatic brain injury in the prison population
Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has published a summary of evidence about traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the prison population, its effects and how to help people with TBI. It suggests that there is a need for better awareness and understanding of TBI across the criminal justice system. Evidence shows that: early identification prior to sentencing is crucial; evidence-based resources for frontline staff can help them effectively and fairly manage people with TBIs; and more effective management of people with TBI across the system can improve continuity of care and the effectiveness of community supervision. Read more here
Seasonal flu guidance for the children and young people’s secure estate
Public Health England has published its guidance for 2019-2020 on preventing and responding to seasonal flu cases or outbreaks in the youth estate. The Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) runs the risk of significant and potentially serious outbreaks, with large numbers of cases and potentially a higher rate of complications including mortality because of several factors, including the enclosed nature of the CYPSE and the fact that children and young people are living in close proximity to each other means that flu can spread quickly. Read more here
Supporting leadership development
Applications are open for Cascading Leadership, a free opportunity from The Kings Fund for leaders working in health and wellbeing organisations in the voluntary sector to develop their leadership skills and receive practical support. It is built on a peer-to-peer model where an experienced voluntary sector leader (a consultant) supports another voluntary sector leader who is seeking support (a partner). Consultants and partners meet in their pairs at least five times over a period of nine months. The next course starts in March 2020. Applications are especially welcomed for consultants and partners from black and minority ethnic communities, as people from these groups have been underrepresented on previous courses. Apply here
Children and Young People’s Transformation Board
NHS England and Improvement are looking for four children and young people (aged 13-24) to join the Children and Young People’s Transformation Board as Youth Members for one year (December 2019-December 2020) to represent the voices of children and young people. This is an exciting opportunity to make a difference to children, young people and their families in England. Applicants should have current or previous experience of using one or more children’s or adolescent NHS services in England. The deadline for applications is by 23:59 on Wednesday 23rd October. If you would like to discuss this role further and request an application form and other related documents, please email: ayse.gungor@nhs.net
Learning disabilities and homelessness
Homeless Link is creating some guidance around supporting people with learning disabilities who are in homelessness services, as this is an issue that is raised regularly by its members. People who are homeless often experience multiple disadvantages including contact with the criminal justice system. Homeless Link is looking for examples of good practice in this area. Please email: Caroline.Bernard@homelesslink.org.uk
Community mental health
The Community Mental Health Services Framework has been published by NHS England, which outlines a new integrated place-based community mental health model intended to improve people's access to, and quality of, care. The Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Health and Wellbeing Alliance, of which Clinks is a member, fed into this new framework by conducting surveys, focus groups and interviews. Read more here
Causes of hospital admission and mortality among heroin users
A new research study on causes of hospital admission and mortality among heroin users has been published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Interventions designed to improve the health of people who use heroin typically focus on prevention and treatment of blood-borne viral infections and overdoses, as well as a reduction in drug-related crime. However, there are few interventions that aim to prevent and treat common non-communicable diseases in this group. The results demonstrate the urgent need for further research in this area. Read more here
Availability of healthcare for probation clients
In this new paper published in the British Journal of Community Justice, researchers reflect on their experience of conducting research on the availability of healthcare for probation clients. They demonstrate that challenges still arise when doing this kind of research, even when the rationale for a research project is based on organisational or governmental policy and key stakeholders (including staff and service users) have been engaged at the project design stage. They then go on to recommend helpful strategies that might improve engagement with research in the future. Read more here
Collective co-production
Thomas Kerridge’s thesis explores the role of collective co-production in producing democratic governance in the NHS in England. Democratic governance means the running of services by people and service provider representatives in equal partnership, where everyone has an equal say and there are no power imbalances. In the NHS, this form of administration is uncommon. Over the past 30 years, governance has been based on hierarchical and/or market ethics. In his work, Tom examines how governance can be shaped by everyone. He discusses how people's beliefs and actions structure their environment, and allow for the production of democratic governance. To read the executive summary or discuss his work, please contact: Thomas.kerridge@gold.ac.uk or Twitter: @tomkerridge1
Impact of specialist counselling after baby loss
The Centre for Mental Health has published a new report called Life after loss: An economic evaluation of specialist counselling after baby loss. The report is an economic evaluation of the baby loss charity Petals, which provides counselling to women who have experienced the death of a baby and their partners. It found that by investing £3.17 million nationwide, specialist counselling could be provided to every mother affected by baby loss in England and Wales. Specialist counselling for parents who have lost a baby is not universally available on the NHS, despite the severity of the trauma they have experienced. This is a major gap in provision. The report is available here
Autism understanding, support and services
The National Autistic Society (part of the Complex Needs Consortium) recently published a new report with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism. It's the result of an in-depth inquiry with parliamentarians across health, care, education, employment and criminal justice. It ran six evidence sessions in Parliament, as well as hearing from over 11,000 autistic people and their families. In particular, it looks at the mental health crisis and lack of social care support for autistic people, including those with complex needs. Having worked with the Department of Health and Social Care policy leads, this report will form a large part of the government's evidence for reviewing the national autism strategy this year. Read more here
Principles for voluntary sector engagement webinars
NHS England is running a series of webinars for the wider voluntary sector to promote the principles for voluntary sector engagement. These include: ‘Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector partnerships in Integrated Care Systems’ [22nd October]; ‘Health Inequalities Menu of Evidence Based Interventions’ [29th October]; ‘Primary Care Networks: Introduction and How to Get Involved’ [31st October]; and ‘An update on Volunteering for the VCSE sector’ [26th November]. Read more and register here
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This regular bulletin provides Clinks members with the latest news for voluntary organisations involved in the health and care of people in the criminal justice system. It currently has 2,518 subscribers.
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