Are Learning Disabilities Mortality Review millions being spent wisely?

It was promoted as a world-first that would deliver improvements to the lives of people with learning disabilities by investigating the reasons behind premature deaths. Darren Devine speaks to those who say the aims of the learning disabilities mortality review (LeDeR) are being undermined.

 

Read more

Further insight

• “It’s a different way of standing up for what you believe in”: Meet Delta 7 – the rock band championing inclusivity

Catch up

• New research for CQC shows people regret not raising concerns about their care – but those who do raise concerns see improvements

Keep supporting progress and greater opportunities for people with learning disabilities.

This newsletter is packed with information

You may wish to join the live stream about what your diagnosis means to you?

We are all looking forward to going to the Professionals conference and Axia are gold sponsors. Calvin will be presenting the award for Outstanding Health Service (which we were delighted to have won last year) and Sarah is co-hosting the awards.

What does it mean to get a diagnosis?

Join us on our Facebook page for a special live event, starting at 7pm on 13 March. We’ll be live streaming our specialists, as well as speaking to autistic people and families about what it means to get an autism diagnosis.


We’ll be covering the different routes available to getting a diagnosis, what an autism assessment should look like and how you can help us campaign to reduce the length of time people have to wait for an autism diagnosis.


During the show we’ll have a segment where your questions will be answered, so make sure you like our Facebook page so you can get involved.

We are proud to announce the finalists of our 2019 Autism Professionals Awards.

Our annual awards recognise and celebrate people like you, services and schools helping to create a society that works for autistic people and their families. There are 33 finalists across 11 award categories covering education, health, social care, employment, and volunteering.


The winners will be announced at a special ceremony on 7 March 2019 in Birmingham, after the first day of our 10th anniversary Autism Professionals Conference.

In this blog, Robyn Steward, an autism consultant, author and ambassador for our charity, looks back on the campaign for the Autism Act and considers what still needs to change.


“I met so many brilliant autistic people during this time, working with their families, the National Autistic Society and many other autism charities, as well as some brilliant MPs like Cheryl Gillan,” Robyn writes. 

Autistic Love Island star Niall Aslam, aka Rainbow Fish, will launch the London Spectrum Night Walk on Saturday, 6 April 2019. 


You can join Niall to walk through London and help raise awareness of autism this World Autism Awareness Week. Join Niall by signing up for London or Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff or Belfast. 

There’s a lot going on this February – ballots are being announced for Ride London, the New York Marathon, the Royal Parks Half Marathon and the Great North Run. Places are still available, and if you’ve got your own place, why not join Team Autism? If you’re looking for inspiration, check out our video on why Team Autism is the team for you in 2019.

Mark Lever, our Chief Executive since 2008, is leaving the charity in May. He’s written a letter to supporters like you.


“I am proud of what our charity achieves every day and I’m going to miss working here enormously,” writes Mark.

“It is unacceptable that children are being physically injured and traumatised”: the use of restraint and seclusion in schools

Efforts to reduce restraint and seclusion have been focused on hospitals where statistics show its prevalence rising. Darren Devine hears from campaigning charities who say the restraint and seclusion of disabled children in schools is a hidden issue with no official government guidance on its use in England.

 

Read more

Further insight

• United Response call for autism-awareness training for public transport staff

Catch up

• NHS and social care staff to receive mandatory learning disability and autism training

Keep supporting progress and greater opportunities for people with learning disabilities.

Self diagnosis ‘trivialises severe mental disorders’

New mental health lessons are being designed to teach secondary school pupils about the “prevalence and character of common conditions”. With details due to be published over the next few days, the Royal College of Psychiatrists highlights the dangers it sees in self-diagnosis.

 

Read Dr Bernadka Dubicka’s exclusive blog for Mental Health Today

Insights

• “No one should be shamed for trying to understand what is affecting them” – a defence of self-diagnosis

• Lessons from Alfred Adler: the influential figure in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy you’ve never heard of

Catch up

• Language used in mental health education ‘should be led by lived experience’

Learn | Campaign | Support

Explore MHT’s Teach Me Well campaign for 2019, shaping new mental health lessons before they enter the national curriculum next year.

Learn about Borderline Personality Disorder and other common mental health conditions in our expanded Disorders Explained information hub.

Show your support for what you’ve read today by making a one-off or recurring donation by debit card, credit card or PayPal. It helps us keep the site free from paywalls.

Keep supporting mental health progress.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Bookstore

From Barney and the Mental Health Today team.

To celebrate the launch of Calvin’s book,
“The Nerd Consultant’s Guide to Anime”,
we have decided to run a competition!

Also to coincide with the book launch, our previous publication,  “How Did That Happen – Memoirs of a Dyspraxic Diagnostician” by Linda Buchan, are now being made available to the readers of our website in PDF format to download for FREE!!!

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Eight in ten concerned by ‘judgmental’ mental health lessons

The government will share its finalised plans for mental health education later this month, possibly as early as next week. Public concern around how the government plans to guide teachers to respond to behaviour has been measured by Mental Health Today.

 

Find out more

Insights

• “I thought that there was something wrong with me or I was just a bad person”

Catch up

• It’s not “just a film”: the damaging effects of misrepresenting Dissociative Identity Disorder

Learn | Campaign | Support

Explore MHT’s Teach Me Well campaign for 2019, shaping new mental health lessons before they enter the national curriculum next year.

Learn about Borderline Personality Disorder and other common mental health conditions in our expanded Disorders Explained information hub.

Show your support for what you’ve read today by making a one-off or recurring donation by debit card, credit card or PayPal. It helps us keep the site free from paywalls.

Keep supporting mental health progress.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Bookstore

From Barney and the Mental Health Today team.

Consultation: Cheshire East All Age Autism Strategy 2019-2022

The above Strategy is now available for consultation – we would urge people to participate, please access All Age Autism Strategy 2019-2022 Consultation, in which in the Strategy is available in differing formats.

The consultation is open until 5pm on Monday 04 March 2019. We look forward to your contributions to this important strategy.

Thanks
Gerard

Gerard Buckley| Integrated Commissioning Manager – Learning Disabilities, Mental Health & Autism | Adult Social Care and Health |People’s Directorate |Cheshire East Council 2nd Floor, Westfields, Middlewich Road, Sandbach, CW11 1HZ

Mobile: 07790 565154 Tel: 01270 6 86885
gerard.buckley@cheshireeast.gov.uk

We have regrettably decided to cancel today’s Post-Diagnostic Support group due to adverse weather conditions.

Due to adverse weather conditions there is no one in the headquarters in Chester

We shall endeavour to deal with your enquiries remotely
We shall update you via our website
Thank you for your understanding

The role of the government and employers in creating mentally healthy workplaces

It is in the interest of both government and employers to build on recent progress and work in concert to do more on mental health in the workplace, says Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind.

Find out more

Insights

• Treating anorexia: an alternative to prolonged hospitalisation

Catch up

• Rush to reform mental capacity laws will fail to protect human rights, says charity
• Majority feel teaching resilience in the classroom is a flawed concept

Learn | Campaign | Support

Learn about anorexia and other common mental health conditions in our expanded Disorders Explained information hub. Check out new techniques for supporting ‘self-soothing’ in our bookstore.

Join or follow the In Our Right Mind campaign shaping the new Mental Health Act this year.

Show your support for what you’ve read today by making a one-off or recurring donation by debit card, credit card or PayPal. It helps us keep the site free from paywalls.

Keep supporting mental health progress.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Bookstore

From Barney and the Mental Health Today team.

Here is the latest email update for the NHS England Learning Disability and Autism Forum. It tells you about ways you can get involved in our work.

We write this update in plain English and we tell you about more accessible resources like the easy read newsletter.

The NHS long term plan published

Learning disability and autism are a priority in the NHS long term plan. Find out more:

Easy read version of long term plan
Video about the long term plan (5 minutes)
Read the whole long term plan (not easy read)
Audio version (it is very long!)

Local NHS organisations will now make their plans. Thank you to everyone who told us what’s important to them for the long term plan and helped us to write it.

NHS 111

NHS 111 is the NHS non-emergency number. It’s fast, easy and free. Call 111 on your phone and speak to a trained adviser.

The advisers are supported by doctors. They will ask you some questions to check your symptoms and tell you straight away what treatment or service you need to get.

You should call 111 if

• you need medical help but it’s not a 999 emergency
• you think you need to go to accident and emergency or need another type of urgent help
• you don’t know who to call or you don’t have a GP to call
• You need health information or need to know what to do next.

Here’s a video to help people with a learning disability, autism or both to use the NHS 111 service.

Easy read newsletter

Remember you can read the latest NHS England easy read newsletter.

In the newsletter you can find out about

• Ask Listen Do – a project about feedback, concerns and complaints.
• Why people with a learning disability tend to die younger than other people (the LeDeR programme).
• People with a learning disability are more likely to be very ill if they get the flu. Find out about the free flu jab.
• Work on sepsis- a problem where your body reacts badly to an infection.
• Work we’re doing in secure hospitals. These are places where some people are treated if they have committed a crime.

If you would like a paper copy (or copies for a group), let us know- engage@nhs.net

More information

Find out more about the NHS England Learning Disability and Autism Forum

Watch a short film about NHS England and why we want you involved in our work.

Link to more news from the transforming care programme.

Contact us

The Engagement Team
Twitter – @NHSAbility
Facebook group – NHS England Learning Disability and Autism Engagement
Email – Engage@nhs.net
Watch accessible videos on our YouTube playlist

NHS England
0113 824 9686
7E58 Quarry House
Leeds, LS2 7UE

How the NHS’s ten-year plan promises to prioritise mental health

NHS England admit they may need a full decade to ensure that 100 percent of children and young people who need specialist care can access it.

NHS England today revealed how it plans to invest its share of the the £20 billion ’70th birthday present’ the health service was awarded last year by the government.

Over the next decade investment in mental health will grow faster than support for physical health. Mental Health spending will nonetheless not grow much higher than 10 percent of the overall budget.

Adults

Last year’s independent review of the Mental Health Act prompted the government to commit to promoting choice and autonomy in crisis care through ‘Advance Choice Documents’.

The NHS’s new strategy says that by 2023/24 new models of care, “underpinned by improved information sharing”, will give 370,000 adults greater choice and control over their care, and support them to live well in their communities.”

Today’s document says its psychological therapy services “have evolved to deliver benefits to people with long-term conditions, providing genuinely integrated care for people at the point of delivery. More than half of patients who use IAPT [Improving Access to Psychological Therapies] services are moving to recovery, and nine out of ten people now start treatment in less than six weeks.”

The AutistiX

​A rock band of musicians including three young men with Autism and other disabilities, writing original and evocative rock songs, creating their own unique sound. Click either image to read more!

Learning disability and autism – 10 year planning update

Hello,

Another update from NHS England now the Long Term Plan is published

We are sending you this as you registered for one of the sessions with NHS England on the long term plan development

Below is a message from them. Learning Disability England has done its own response and is working with our members to share more ideas. Find out more on that here.

NHS England’s message

All the materials are here, including the short film by Ray James and Aaron Oxford to explain what it means for people with a learning disability, autism or both and their families and carers. An easy read version of the plan is in production.

For autistic people and people with a learning disability the plan includes:

• Investment in community support so that by 2023/24 every local health system would have a seven day specialist multidisciplinary service and crisis care to support people in their communities.
• Implementing in full ‘Building the Right Support’: by March 2023/24, inpatient provision will have reduced to less than half of 2015 levels.
• Over the next three years, waiting times for autism diagnosis will be included alongside work with children and young people’s mental health services to test and implement the most effective ways to reduce waiting times for specialist services.
• Children and young people with a learning disability, autism or both with the most complex needs will have a designated keyworker.
• The STOMP programme – a national project involving different organisations to stop the over medication of people with a learning disability, autism or both – will continue to expand.
• Every person with a learning disability, autism or both will have a digital flag in their patient record to ensure staff have a better understanding of their needs.
• Eyesight, hearing and dental services for children will be invested in and included in reviews as part of general screening services and supported by easily accessible, ongoing care.
• Over the next five years NHS Improvement learning disability improvement standards will be implemented and will apply to all services funded by the NHS.
• The NHS will continue to offer more work opportunities to people with a learning disability and autistic people.

We truly appreciate your time and effort invested to participate in this important work.

With kind regards,

Mariana Ortiz
Events & Training
Phone: 02036 171 842
Learning Disability England

Join Learning Disability England.

For more information about this event click here

The therapy lessons bequeathed by Stan Lee’s superheroes

Cognitive behavioural therapist Michael O’Sullivan reflects on the legacy of Stan Lee in sharing stories about parental loss and abuse through Spiderman and other comic book characters.

For me, an era came to an end last month with the passing of the wonderful Stan Lee, founder of Marvel Comics. Marvel and DC comics were a staple of my childhood. Looking back now, from the perspective of a middle aged psychotherapist, I think that there are so many therapy lessons that can be learned from superheroes.

“Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I am angry.” – Stan Lee’s ‘The Hulk’ has been portrayed on TV and in film.

The experiences we’ve seen played out by superheroes are not so different from those with long term depression. For example, the majority of superheroes have had the experience of parental abuse and loss. Doctor Bruce Banner-the Hulk, suffered at the hands of his abusive father. Superman loses his biological parents. Bruce Wayne as Batman witnessed the violent death of his parents. Superheroes will also “mask” who they really are. Like people with depression they have identities that they show to the world which are there to hide their “real selves”. As with people with depression, superheroes run into conflict whenever there is a danger that their real identities will be revealed. If we were to think of some specific lessons that these heroes can teach us, three clear themes emerge.

Fear of negative emotion

In the 1970s Bill Bixby played the Hulk on TV. His catchphrase was, “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I am angry.”

For many people with depression there is a fear of the explosive nature of anger. Superhero stories also show us how to work with anger. When the Black Widow shows compassion to the Hulk, he calms down. He then becomes Bruce Banner again. Compassion Focussed Therapy teaches us that showing compassion to anger becomes the way in which we defuse this emotion.