NEWS


CQC report: attitude to those ‘in crisis’ variable


Right here, right now, a report published in June by the Care Quality Commission highlighting people’s experiences of help, care, and support, during a mental health crisis, says one in 12 of those questioned reported coming into contact with between six and 10 different services.


Alongside presenting feedback from almost 1,800 individuals with experience of such a crisis, the report reflects the findings of local area inspections ‘looking at how services work together’, surveys of service-providers, and a review of national data. The CQC said: “We found the quality of care experienced by a person in crisis can vary greatly depending on where they are, and what help they require. Many people also experienced problems getting help when they needed it, and found healthcare professionals sometimes lacked compassion and warmth.” Other findings included:


• The use of police cells as a ‘place of safety’ for people in crisis has ‘fallen significantly’, but those under 18 can ‘have problems’ accessing suitable places


Helping vulnerable


people in custody Half of England is now covered by a new service to ensure that people with mental health conditions, learning disabilities, or ‘other vulnerabilities’, are supported in police custody and the courts.


Sixteen new ‘Liaison and Diversion’ (L&D) teams are now operational, with 26 schemes overall nationwide. The ‘first wave’ of 10 schemes, which see specialist mental health workers work alongside police officers, were launched in April 2014. NHS England says the services helped 16,315 adult cases and 2,450 children and young people’s cases access specialist support when in contact with the criminal justice system in the first year. Kate Davies OBE, head of Health & Justice,


Armed Forces and Public Health at NHS England said: “When you are mentally unwell, for example, and have no support, custody can be a very lonely place. By putting additional support and mental health expertise alongside the police and court workforce, we have turned a corner in service provision for vulnerable individuals. By identifying someone brought into a police station or involved in court proceedings who may have a mental health problem or other vulnerabilities, L&D schemes can ensure an individual’s vulnerability is addressed and supported through the criminal justice system.” People helped under the first 10 schemes have ‘shown significant improvements in behaviour, reducing their reoffending rates and keeping appointments to services’. The results of what is initially a two-year trial will be independently evaluated to inform a business case for services to cover the whole of England by 2017/18.


of safety. In 2013/14, nearly a third of people under 18 who were detained were taken into police custody.


• Fewer than four in 10 who had visited ‘A&E’ while in crisis felt listened to and taken seriously, or treated ‘with warmth and compassion’. Those coming into contact with specialist mental health services ‘were only slightly more positive’.


• GPs, ambulance staff, and the police, were all perceived as being more empathetic.


• 42% said the care they received failed to help them while ‘in crisis’.


• 23% had not agreed to the care they received, while 32% were unsure about who to contact when ‘in crisis’.


• Access to, and the quality of services, after 5 pm were ‘not good enough’.


• Just under 13 per cent of section 136 detentions in 2012/2013 were of people detained under the Act in the previous 90 days.


Privacy and visibility the goal


Intastop has launched a range of vision panels that it says ‘provide discretion, while simultaneously allowing increased visibility’. Designed in accordance with the


Department of Health Environmental Design Guide for Adult Medium Secure Units, the IntaGlaze panels utilise a triple-glazed system with 20 mm double width stripes, which provide up to 45% visibility, ‘giving privacy and visibility equal importance’. Sarah Barsby, marketing director, said:


“We conducted extensive research into vision panels, and found that a more simple operation and mechanism for staff and patient users would lead to them being seen as an essential element to the make-up of doors where this is a requirement.” IntaGlaze vision panels’ frameless design ‘provides flexibility in glass and size


combinations, while retaining impact resistance’. Intastop said: “Additional features offered within this quiet, manually- operated panel include


an omni-directional option for operator comfort, dual or single lever operation on one or both sides, a standard key, Life-Line key, or anti-ligature knob.” Sarah Barsby added: “The Life-Line key element was an area highlighted by our customers. They wanted a safe, but uncomplicated operation, compatible with operating the full doorset, including door locking and a removable doorstop.” The panels are FD30 and FD60 fire rated, and tested to BS476: Parts 20 and 22.


Fire detectors’ ‘lower false alarm risk’


Apollo Fire Detectors has unveiled the new addressable detectors which form the initial line-up in the SOTERIA detection range, described as ‘the next generation in fire recognition technology’.


The company said: “SOTERIA is the start of an ongoing technology innovation which will see the product range evolve over the next two years. Developed to cover all detection areas, such as heat, optical, and CO individually, or in innovative combinations, the products use exclusive technology shown to reduce both the incidence of false alarms, and any risk of the wrong detector being installed.” The range has


been tested at Apollo’s in-house testing facilities, and shown to exceed EN54 standards. Apollo said: “The PureLight technology behind SOTERIA features both enhancements to the smoke entry process, and a new design of the Cone sensing chamber. Together these features are proven to reduce the risk of false alarm and enhance smoke detection reliability.” The ‘serpentine designed’ smoke entry path provides a wide degree of separation of smoke and dust, and enables smoke to pass to the cone chamber, but acts as a barrier to dust and insects.


THE NETWORK July 2015 5


• In local authority areas piloting ‘street triage’ schemes, where mental health nurses accompany officers to incidents where the police believe people need immediate mental health support, there has been a ‘substantial reduction’ in the use of Section 136 of the Mental Health Act.


• Once in a place of safety, most services are conducting assessments under the Act within three hours of arrival.


The CQC says that overall, ‘there is cause for


optimism’, with inspectors finding ‘examples of very good practice’. However, it maintains that ‘there is still too much variation across the country and even within the same local authority areas’. Interestingly, the findings point to people in crisis ‘having a much more positive experience of voluntary sector services than with services from the statutory health sector’.


Courtesy of the Care Quality Commission


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