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🚨New @NEF research out today on benefits conditionality:
🫵strict & prescriptive conditionality is pushing people into poor quality work or away from support altogether
📋the public is open to a more flexible & supportive approach that prioritises engagement
Find out more👇🧵
"No long waits anymore for mental health support growing up"
So good to hear this from @andyburnham today
At @MindCharity, we believe the best way to respond to rising need is a 'same-day open access' mental health system, rather than more rationing and gatekeeping 1/2
You can read our report, 'Opening Doors: Ending the wait for better mental health support', that makes the case for same-day open access here, then join our 'See Me Now' campaign to help us make this vision a reality 2/2 mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/o…
There's a huge gap between the quality of care mental health professionals want to deliver & the reality of the services many work in
Today's new @MindCharity report argues that, in the face of rising levels of need, we need to rethink how people access mental health support 1/6
ALT Chart showing the gap between the percentage of NHS respondents to a Mind survey who said certain principles were essential or very important to high-quality mental health services and the percentage who felt their service is delivering on this principle most of the time or always. For 'Providing access to support as soon as possible when someone needs it' this was 98% vs 46%. For 'Being able to respond to people’s level of need and provide an appropriate level of contact' it was 98% vs 55%. For 'Supporting people with their wider physical and social needs (such as housing, benefits, employment, relationships)' it was 88% vs 46%. For 'Understanding and responding to the impact of past trauma that service users may have experienced' it was 96% vs 58%. For 'Working with people’s families and other important people in their lives to create a supportive social network' it was 89% vs 53%.
As demand for support has risen, while funding has failed to keep pace, these narrow pathways have become increasingly backlogged
People are stuck waiting for support that may not even be right for them. Rationing services is exacerbating demand rather than managing it 5/6
We propose following Wales's lead & moving towards 'same-day open access' support, ensuring people are properly heard & understood much earlier so they can be directed to the right support
You can find the full report & join our campaign here: mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/o… 6/6
ALT Image of report front cover "Opening doors: Ending the wait for better mental health support"
"The simple fact is that mental health services haven’t kept pace with rising demand"
Great to hear this from @andyburnham
Today's announcement of new neighbourhood mental health centres is a positive step towards a more open access model of support mirror.co.uk/news/politics/a…
People with mental health problems often wait too long for (or never get) a really good conversation about why they're struggling & what help they need
I've written for @NewStatesman about how a 'same-day open access' model could transform outcomes newstatesman.com/spotlight/2…
If Burnham does look to devolve much of the DWP's current remit, as seems likely, he should use that as an opportunity to try to tackle deep-rooted cultural & institutional issues in the department that have constrained & distorted policy thinking & delivery for too long... 1/5
A senior figure in the Department for Work and Pensions loudly “joked” about disability equality and reasonable adjustments as he waited to give evidence to a committee of MPs, Disability News Service can reveal.
#DWP
disabilitynewsservice.com/dw…
I wrote about this 'benefit lens', as well a crushing risk aversion & a lack of imagination about how things could be done differently, in this @Demos paper about my time on secondment at DWP. The paper called for much of DWP's functions to be devolved 4/5 demos.co.uk/research/pathway…
I subsequently worked with @wearenewlocal to set out a blueprint for how a devolved model of employment support, following the right design principles, could much more effectively meet the needs of people facing complex barriers, including disabilities 5/5
newlocal.org.uk/publications…
Important work by @rcpsych, @natfednews & @lookaheadtweets on the impact that a shortage of appropriate housing has on the ability of mental health hospitals to move people safely back into the community independent.co.uk/news/healt…
This proposal from the Tony Blair Institute shows a complete misunderstanding of both mental health & the benefits system. Declaring some conditions 'non work-limiting' is a discriminatory & simplistic response to a hugely complex challenge 1/4 telegraph.co.uk/business/202…
In any case, people don't get additional benefits because of a diagnosis. It's based on functional assessments of how their health/disability impacts on their ability to work and live independently. For most people this will be the impact of multiple health conditions 3/4