Clare Gerada: influence on UK medical practice and ME/CFS management

Professor Dame Clare Gerada returns to her role as guardian of general practice. She has a column on page 20 of the Times ( hard copy) today, entitled "GPs need support if primary care is to do all it should".

It references GP vote to take industrial action, calls GP service " the jewel in the crown "of the NHS.
It continues with exaggerated validation of GP service, and emphasises the reduction in GP resources over the last 5 years comparing it with the rise in number of hospital Consultants, and the overall reduction in community services compared with the growth in hospital based care.
 
Oh dear, Mr and Mrs seem somewhat exercised this weekend.

Fourth day of the House of Lords debate at report stage of the Mental Health Bill early next week. (excerpt from the King's Speech at the opening of Parliament 17 July 2024)

My Government will improve the National Health Service as a service for all, providing care on the basis of need regardless of the ability to pay. It will seek to reduce the waiting times, focus on prevention and improve mental health provision for young people. It will ensure mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health. My ministers will legislate to modernise the Mental Health Act so it is fit for the twenty first century [Mental Health Bill].
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Did the 'heartsink' patient gp training module (I had to look up what Acopia was), and FNDs inclusion in the healthcare workers training module discussion, and the 'supply induced demand' comments in the House of Lords this week hit several nerves?

Illegal face down restraint happened to me twice Inhuman' use of restraint on disabled patients - BBC News when I was sectioned as a malnourished severe CFS/ME patient to one of these hospitals. So my interest in this is personal.

'Cygnet Health Care - Wikipedia
Cygnet Health Care announces appointment of Dame Clare Gerada to Advisory Board - Cygnet

Puts this phrase into a completely different light "We never learn from the past - we just recreate the wheel"
 
Maat said:
Illegal face down restraint happened to me twice Inhuman' use of restraint on disabled patients - BBC News when I was sectioned as a malnourished severe CFS/ME patient to one of these hospitals. So my interest in this is personal.
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I don’t think being put at grave risk of death by suffocation is gonna be a mental health enhancing experience.

I don’t think being absolutely terrified that you’re just about to be killed is generally thought to be good for one’s wellbeing.


I’m so sorry.
 
Ash said:
I don’t think being put at grave risk of death by suffocation is gonna be a mental health enhancing experience.

I don’t think being absolutely terrified that you’re just about to be killed is generally thought to be good for one’s wellbeing.


I’m so sorry.
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The UN Special Rapporteur of the Committee for the rights of persons with disabilities calls such things as trauma inducing instead of trauma informed.
 
My Government will improve the National Health Service as a service for all, providing care on the basis of need regardless of the ability to pay. It will seek to reduce the waiting times, focus on prevention and improve mental health provision for young people. It will ensure mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health.
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This is the real madness. The attention and focus, which really means funding, should be on a needs and demonstrated benefit basis. Not on some arbitrary we must give both equal billing basis for fear of being accused of anti-psych prejudice, and because it gives us an excuse not to properly fund productive research and clinical programs, nor address any psychosocial & economic factors driving mental health issues, nor provide adequate support for the afflicted until we can come up with something that actually works.
 
Ring fencing of funds for healthcare is being removed, with only ring fencing for mental health to remain in the new NHS 2025/2026 priorities and planning guidance.
2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance

There has been some reaction against this, among which is from the King's Fund charity.
The King’s Fund Responds To The 2025/26 Operational Planning Guidance | The King's Fund

‘The plan also hopes for ambitious efficiency gains to free up much-needed resources, but few people working in the NHS will think it can be delivered without harming the quality of patient care over the coming year.
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‘The plan published today reduces the number of national targets, meaning local NHS leaders will have more flexibility to make decisions about which services should be prioritised in their communities. The health care services that should be prioritised in Blackpool will not necessarily be the same as in Cornwall. However, it means many of the tough decisions about what to deprioritise are also being pushed down to a local level.
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and this NHS England chief under fire again as MPs ‘exasperated’ by responses

In her letter on Wednesday to Streeting, the RCOG’s president, Dr Ranee Thakar, told him of doctors’ “deep concern” at the loss of automatic funding for women’s health hubs. Any such move would be “self-defeating”, given their proven success in reducing demand for hospital-based care, and “will result in a deterioration in women’s health”, she added.
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Jon Sparkes, the chief executive of the charity Mencap, has also voiced his concern about the potential axing of a promise that 75% of people with learning disabilities will receive an annual health check. “Reports suggesting that critical NHS goals, such as ensuring annual health checks for people with a learning disability, are at risk of being scrapped could have deadly consequences,” he said.

“Even when resources are tight, addressing waiting times and ensuring people with a learning disability are receiving adequate healthcare should never be pitted against each other.

“People with a learning disability are currently dying, on average, up to 23 years earlier than the general population. Scrapping targets for vital interventions like annual health checks – where existing and potential health conditions can be identified and treated early on – will only make this gap wider.”
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In view of this it'll likely be the same for ring-fenced research funding for mental health.

ETA: Another advocate speaking out, this time on dementia. NHS scraps targets for diagnosis of the biggest killer in Britain in shocking U-turn

The NHS will maintain the ambition for local systems to deliver dementia diagnosis and services. From my experience, some areas are fully committed to this challenge and have made notable progress. However, these systems face severe financial pressures, alongside this message from the UK government that dementia is not a priority.
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Just three weeks ago, Stephen Kinnock, Minister for Care, said that Government is "committed to improving dementia diagnosis rates and recovering them to the national ambition of two thirds of people with dementia to have a formal diagnosis." Removing this from the core guidance will massively hamper this commitment and absolutely scuppers the chances of pushing further and delivering a diagnosis for the forgotten third.

This decision makes it crucial for the upcoming 10 Year plan for the NHS in England to provide concrete solutions for the future of dementia diagnosis and care. It is no longer acceptable for dementia to be an afterthought and the evidence and data backs this up. It's the very least we can do for nearly the one million people living with dementia and their carers right now.

Tim Baverstock, Head of Local System Influencing, Alzheimer's Society
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