News round-up (20 September 2024)

Once again, figures show that there has been an increase in the number of people claiming sickness benefits for mental illness, a curve that has been on a steep upward rise since the pandemic. Part of this trend may be attributable to the government’s poor planning during the pandemic, the chief executive of Mind told the Covid inquiry, in particular its failure to support young people and children. The impact of this increase can be seen in the growing pressure on the NHS, with one trust reporting a seven-year waiting list for adults to be assessed for ADHD.

 

Main stories this week

New data on Mental Health Act detentions show urgent need for reform, charities say

New data about detentions under the Mental Health Act demonstrate the need for “wholesale reforms,” the Centre for Mental Health has said.

 

AI tool could predict over 1,000 diseases before diagnosis

A machine-learning tool developed by pharmacy company AstraZeneca could predict more than one 1,000 diseases before diagnosis, a study has found.

 

Government minister suggests social media ban for children

A government minister has proposed banning children from using social media because of the harm it causes to their physical and mental health.

 

Using AI to allocate patients to treatment can reduce hospitalisation

Using machine learning to allocate medical treatments during a pandemic can reduce the number of people to be hospitalised, a study has found.

 

Other stories from the week

One in 10 on sickness benefits after mental health claims surge

One in 10 adults of working age are now on sickness benefits, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), a think tank.

The number of people aged 16 to 64 claiming incapacity, disability benefits or both rose from 2.8m before the pandemic to 3.9m now, the IFS said. The figures cover benefits paid to both people in jobs and those who are too ill to work.

This rise has been driven by more claims by young people as well as a rapid increase in mental health-related claims among people of all ages.

The number of under-40s lodging new applications for sickness benefits has risen by 150% since the pandemic, going from 4,500 to 11,500 a month.

Over the same period, the number of new claims for mental health conditions among all ages has more than tripled from 3,900 to 12,100 a month. More than a third of all claims are for mental health conditions, up from 28% before the pandemic.

 

NHS warned on rollout of AI-powered genomic health prediction 

Rolling out AI-powered genomic health prediction (AIGHP) technology could create significant privacy and discrimination risks, a report has warned.

AI-powered genomic health prediction refers to a set of AI-driven techniques that use genomic and other data to create predictions about people’s future health and drug responses.

The report, entitled  Predicting: The future of healthcare? was published jointly by the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB), and raises concerns about privacy relating to the use of sensitive personal data on a mass scale. It also highlights the possibility of new forms of genetic discrimination, particularly in the context of health insurance, structural challenges in the NHS’s adoption of new technologies and a lack of evidence on public attitudes towards AIGHP.

 

Lack of planning for mental health impacts of pandemic a ‘catastrophic failure’, charity says

The mental health charity Mind has told the Covid inquiry that the previous government’s lack of planning relating to mental health during a pandemic was a “catastrophic failure”.

Speaking on the first day of module 3 of the inquiry, which is looking at children and  young people in mental health settings, Dr Sarah Hughes, the charity’s chief executive, said: “There appears to have been no plan for people already engaging with mental health services and no plan for the inevitable mental health consequences of the pandemic.”

She added: “This is especially true for children and young people. We’ve heard too many stories of young people discharged from hospital at the height of the pandemic with no support plans in place for their return home. We’re now living with the consequences of these multiple failures, as more and more young people report mental health problems.”

 

Seven-year wait for specialist assessments at ‘outstanding’ mental health trust 

Adult patients needing an assessment for ADHD now have to wait seven years at one mental health trust, its board papers show.

Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (CNTW) Foundation Trust’s ADHD waiting list now has 12,000 people on it, one of the longest in the country. The seven-year wait is also among the worst in England.

A report from its September board meeting said: “There are currently circa 12,000 patients waiting for assessment for adult ADHD, and this trend is increasing month on month. The average wait to be assessed for adult ADHD (if joining the waiting list in February 2024) is seven years.”

CNTW, rated ‘outstanding’ by the regulator, told the publication HSJ that it had no plans to stop taking referrals for adult ADHD services. Its risk register, however, which is also included in its September board papers, said it had run out of stocks of medication to treat people already diagnosed with ADHD.

 

New round-the-clock mental health text service is launched in Northamptonshire

A county-wide service offering free mental health support via text message 24 hours a day has been launched in Northamptonshire.

Texting a single word, IMATTER, to the number 85258 will enable people to be connected to trained volunteers.

The service, known as SHOUT, has been launched by a charity, two councils and the county’s integrated care board (ICB). It is designed to help with problems such as anxiety, stress, loneliness, depression and suicidal thoughts. A senior councillor said the service was “especially important now when many people are struggling mentally due to the cost-of-living crisis”.

The council added that a text to SHOUT would not appear on phone bills and all messages would be confidential, unless there were concerns about someone’s safety.

 

Mental health charities respond to Darzi report

Mental health charities have welcomed the Darzi report, which, they say, confirms the scale of the challenges facing the NHS’s mental health provision.

Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind, said the publication represented a “dark day for mental health”, adding: “Lord Darzi’s findings showing many people in mental health crisis are being held in rooms constructed for a Victorian asylum are disturbing, shameful, but ultimately unsurprising.”

YoungMinds said that the review “confirms what we know already – that young people and their mental health have been severely let down by the system there to support them…Undoubtedly there are thousands of people working tirelessly in the NHS to help young people who are struggling with their mental health, but the system simply cannot keep up with demand.”

Andy Bell, chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health, said that the report “yet again talks about the need for a shift towards preventing illness, and a move away from hospital to community care.” He added: We’ve heard this so many times before in reviews of the NHS. Now we need assurances that it will be different this time. That we will get investment in public health and social care – not just platitudes. That we will have fair funding for mental health services that is ‘locked-in’ and ‘irreversible’ to grow and support the wellbeing of our mental health workforce. And that we will begin a shift away from relying on hospital care when community support would be better to meet people’s needs.”