Clinicians say there is concern that the country’s healthcare system is inadequate to protect most vulnerable
Canada is delaying plans which would allow people with mental illness to access medically assisted death amid concern from some clinicians that the healthcare system is not prepared to handle the complicated cases.
Starting March 2023, Canada is expected to become one of the few countries in the world to allow physician-assisted death for chronic mental disorders.
Continue reading...Crammed wards, burnt-out GPs, patients waiting hours for ambulances – the health service is at breaking point
Inside the dimly lit command centre at King’s College hospital, staff arriving for the first beds meeting of the day are greeted with a warning: the hospital is already under strain. “So, we are under pressure this morning,” the head of nursing, Naomi Hosking, informs colleagues stood around her in a semi-circle. No one registers surprise. “We’ve got a lot of patients in ED [emergency department] with little space to see new patients, so we need to get some early movement.”
It’s 8.32am and ED – maximum capacity 60 – is packed, with 61 patients inside. The oldest is 98; the youngest 30 days old. Later, that pressure will intensify: the number of ED patients – in beds, on trolleys or in chairs – will more than double to 137.
Continue reading...Health minister maintains reform is needed and other mental health advocates back wholesale changes to Better Access system
The federal government is under pressure to scrap controversial plans to halve the number of annual Medicare-backed psychologist appointments, amid claims it has disregarded a key finding of the top level report it relied upon to justify the decision.
The health minister, Mark Butler, maintains reform of the Better Access system is needed, saying the former government’s model led to ballooning wait times and denied access to new patients and those on low incomes.
Continue reading...AMA concerned by ‘significant disincentives’ to virus testing and psychologist body ‘bitterly disappointed’
Some free Covid PCR tests will require referrals and Medicare-supported psychologist sessions will be reduced by the federal government under changes to Covid management that suicide prevention groups have called “baffling”.
The national Covid-19 health management plan for 2023, released on Monday, outlines federal government plans for handling the pandemic next year. The health minister, Mark Butler, said Labor was investing $2.8bn to manage the virus, with measures including vaccine procurement, public information campaigns, hospital funding and plans for aged care and multicultural communities.
Continue reading...Duke and Duchess of Sussex honoured for their activism days ahead of revelatory Netflix show
A US human rights charity has awarded Harry and Meghan its Ripple of Hope award for their activism on racial justice and mental health.
In a statement celebrating their award, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said “a ripple of hope can turn into a wave of change”. The couple received the award on Tuesday night in New York, two days before the release of a tell-all Netflix show expected to include damning revelations about the royal family.
Continue reading...Survey finds nearly a fifth of respondents have had suicidal ideation about financial problems
The shocking impact that soaring bills are having on mental health has been laid bare by a report that highlights how money worries are driving many people to thoughts of suicide.
The Money and Mental Health policy institute, a charity founded and chaired by the consumer champion Martin Lewis, reported that 17% of respondents to a survey said they had experienced suicidal ideation over the past nine months owing to the rising cost of living.
Continue reading...NHS Digital research reveals scale of issues, with even higher number of 20- to 23-year-olds affected
More than half of older teenagers and young adults in England have a problematic relationship with food, a major survey of young people’s mental health has found.
Six in ten (60%) 17- to 19-year-olds have “possible problems with eating”, according to research undertaken by NHS Digital, the health service’s statistical body.
One in four 17- to 19-year-olds have a probable mental disorder – up from one in 10 in 2017 and one in six last year.
Children and young people from households facing financial difficulties, such as those who cannot afford food, are much more likely to have mental health problems.
One in eight 11- to 16-year-olds, and 29.4% of those that age with a mental health disorder such as anxiety or depression, have been bullied online.
One in six 17- to 24-year-olds have tried to harm themselves.
Continue reading...‘Every year there was a suicide,’ James Geercke says on first day of royal commission hearings in Wagga Wagga
A former soldier says he and fellow Australian Defence Force Academy recruits were so traumatised by their extreme training regime they began hallucinating and some became suicidal.
James Geercke joined the academy in 2008 as an 18-year-old. On Monday, he told the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide that recruits were routinely pushed to their limits.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Head of West Midlands police warns of rising crime in poorest areas as forces are stretched beyond capacity
A child experiencing a mental health crisis had to live in a police station for two days due to a lack of psychiatric places, a chief constable has revealed, as he condemned austerity for hitting the poorest areas hardest.
Sir David Thompson, who leads West Midlands police, said his force – which is still missing officers and funding after cuts – was being asked to do too much, and warned of rising crime as desperation increases in the poorest areas.
Dismissed attacks from government and rightwing media that claim the police are too woke.
Condemned those trying to drag policing into the “culture wars”.
Revealed fears that the poorest areas would be hit hardest again by the cost of living crisis, fuelling a “real risk” of rising crime.
Said that bias explained some of the reasons that black people experienced more use of force and coercive powers than other groups.
Called for a radical rethink on tackling the problems blighting society, as public services work in “silos”.
Warned that police were being expected to do too much, including in the field of mental health.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Linda Francois, whose son Jaden Francois-Esprit was bullied in Wembley, says culture must change
The mother of a firefighter whose death triggered a review into the culture at the London fire brigade, has welcomed the findings of a damning report.
However, Linda Francois, whose son Jaden Francois-Esprit killed himself in August 2020, said that much remained to be done and making real changes in the workplace for people like her son was what really mattered.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or by email at jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Doctors suffering ‘moral distress’ at their powerlessness to help most vulnerable, says head of the Royal College of GPs
Ill patients are refusing sicknotes from their GP because they cannot afford time off work, while physicians suffer “moral distress” at their powerlessness to do more to help the most vulnerable, the new leader of Britain’s family doctors has revealed.
More patients are experiencing asthma attacks or other serious breathing problems because they cannot afford to heat their homes, said Dr Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, while many have reported deteriorating mental health due to financial stress.
Continue reading...William Warrington slipped out of hospital in Gloucestershire and stabbed his mother before taking her car to kill father
A man with paranoid schizophrenia has admitted stabbing his parents to death on the same night in two attacks 15 miles apart, after slipping out of a psychiatric hospital in Gloucestershire.
William Warrington killed his mother, Valerie, 73, a hospital worker, at her home in the Cotswolds village of Bourton-on-the-Water in March. He then drove her car to his father, Clive’s, home in Cheltenham and killed him. Neighbours heard Warrington say “I’m going to enjoy this” as he attacked his father, 67.
Continue reading...‘Systemic’ failures at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys trust found to have contributed to self-inflicted deaths
Three teenage girls died after major failings in the care they received from NHS mental health services in the north-east of England, an independent investigation has found.
“Multifaceted and systemic” failures by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS trust contributed to the young women’s self-inflicted deaths within eight months of each other, it concluded.
In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or by email at jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Exclusive: Coroner suspects ‘undercount’ as a decade of suicide data is released to the public
More than 200 LGBTQ+ Victorians have died by suicide in the past decade, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by the state’s coroner.
In a report to be released on Friday, the coroner’s court of Victoria identified 208 deaths by suicide – recorded between 2012 and 2021 – of people who are LGBTQ+.
Continue reading...Figures show there is one counsellor for every 650 students, despite inquiry recommending ratio of 1:500
A dire shortage of school counsellors means New South Wales students are going without disability assessments and early interventions as staff scramble to triage the most serious cases, including suicide risks, sexual assaults and teen pregnancies.
Department of Education figures obtained by Guardian Australia reveal there was one counsellor for every 650 students across the state in August, not accounting for staff on uncovered leave – meaning the reality was far worse.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...Calls for more support after England research shows those diagnosed under 65 also at greater risk
People who have recently been diagnosed with dementia, or who are diagnosed with the condition at a younger age, are among those at increased risk of suicide, researchers have found. The findings have prompted calls for greater support for those experiencing such cognitive decline.
While previous research has explored a potential link between dementia diagnosis and suicide risk, the results have been inconclusive, with some suggesting a raised risk and others a reduced risk.
•In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Sally Mays’ parents fought for seven years to hear details of chat outside mental health unit their daughter was turned away from
An NHS trust has “not covered itself in glory” in its dealings with the family of a vulnerable young woman who killed herself after being refused admission to hospital, a coroner has found.
The three-day hearing looked at evidence withheld from the original inquest into the death of Sally Mays, who killed herself in 2014 after being turned away from a mental health unit.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.
Continue reading...No 10 says PM has faith in chancellor, as Treasury minister says tax cuts are the ‘right plan’. This blog is now closed
Q: When would you get debt falling as a proprotion of GDP?
Starmer says Labour does want to get that down.
Continue reading...Expert says it’s vital to change how student absences are recorded to better track school refusal
Teachers across New South Wales will learn to deal with families struggling with school refusal, with about a third of students in years 1 to 10 missing more than 90% of classes over the course of a semester last year.
But an expert on the problem said it is vital that all states and territories change how student absences are recorded to better track school refusal.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Continue reading...From a visit to a historic church to a flutter on the horses, there are many ways to escape the doldrums during Monday’s big shutdown
• Accession of King Charles and death of Queen Elizabeth – latest updates
Watching the state funeral on Monday is not compulsory, even if some public figures have claimed it should be. But anyone looking to avoid it has other options.
The bank holiday shutdown stretches from supermarkets and big retailers to leisure centres and tourist attractions. No English Heritage site will open, not even its historic churches, it confirmed last week, nor any National Trust garden or stately home.
Continue reading...