Are the kids alright? Emergency help for suicide and self-harm during the COVID-19 pandemic

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In her debut blog, Molly McCarthy appraises a recent Lancet Psychiatry systematic review and meta-analysis exploring the patterns of paediatric emergency department visits for suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and self-harm incidents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The role of paramedics in suicide prevention: links between sleep, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts

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Kirsten Russell and Susan Rasmussen summarise a recent cohort study on self-reported sleep disturbance in ambulance attendances for suicidal ideation and attempted suicide, which suggests a possible role for paramedics in suicide prevention.

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Annual health checks may reduce emergency hospital admissions for preventable conditions

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Pauline Heslop summarises a UK primary care study that shows how emergency hospital admissions for preventable conditions can be reduced in people with learning disabilities who receive annual health checks.

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Self-harm on the rise, but many denied mental health assessments

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Katrina Witt explores a recently published paper that draws on the Multicentre Study of Self-Harm in England. The cohort study found that around one-half of self-harm patients do not receive psychosocial assessment, despite 2004 NICE guidance that recommends everyone who has self-harmed should have a comprehensive assessment of needs and risk.

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Emergency bed use: data briefing from the King’s Fund. What the numbers tell us

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This briefing aims to provide commissioners and providers with information on trends and activity to help them decide where to focus attention. Background The NHS faces the tightest financial settlement in its history. It is charged to find £20 billion in productivity improvements by 2015 Bed use for elective admissions accounts for 55% of admissions [read the full story…]

Breaking the mould without breaking the system: towards integrated 24/7 urgent care

Urgent or unplanned care consumes more than half the cost of the NHS, and represents about a third of the overall activity within it. This practical guide for commissioners builds on thinking emerging from reviews and innovative work by the Primary Care Foundation for the Department of Health over recent years.  Without proposing a blueprint [read the full story…]