This paper aims to examine the National Health Service (NHS) Diabetes’ document Commissioning Mental Health and Diabetes Services (Swage, 2011). This will be followed by a critique of its relevance and efficiency as a public health policy. A mention will be made on its implementation and influence on mental health services and their nurses in the United Kingdom (UK).
Firstly, however, it is important to establish why diabetes is considered a public health issue and why an awareness of this condition is relevant to mental health services. It is then necessary to critique the proposed approach of the document in conjunction with past national service frameworks, as well as contemporary documents and research studies; looking into the efficiency …show more content…
However, in comparison to the policy documents for diabetes, it does look more extensively at how to integrate both physical and mental health services. For example, it was established that accidents and emergency (A&E) departments are a key entry point for prospective mental health patients and are essential places for providing “out-of-hours” support. As it stands, a high percentage of A&E workload is directed towards people who have self-harmed (DH, 1999). Self-harm is one of the top five causes of acute admission and the corresponding individuals require urgent psychosocial assessments before discharge (DH, …show more content…
(Quick, 2014; Rethink Mental Illness, 2014; Naylor et al., 2015). This means staying in contact and following up with service users, whilst under the care of additional services i.e. drug and alcohol teams, diabetes specialist teams. Undertaking these responsibilities will enhance the continuity of care between services, and subsequently improve the quality of care. Furthermore, it will reduce the likelihood of service users from “falling through the gap” when transferring between these
Firstly, however, it is important to establish why diabetes is considered a public health issue and why an awareness of this condition is relevant to mental health services. It is then necessary to critique the proposed approach of the document in conjunction with past national service frameworks, as well as contemporary documents and research studies; looking into the efficiency …show more content…
However, in comparison to the policy documents for diabetes, it does look more extensively at how to integrate both physical and mental health services. For example, it was established that accidents and emergency (A&E) departments are a key entry point for prospective mental health patients and are essential places for providing “out-of-hours” support. As it stands, a high percentage of A&E workload is directed towards people who have self-harmed (DH, 1999). Self-harm is one of the top five causes of acute admission and the corresponding individuals require urgent psychosocial assessments before discharge (DH, …show more content…
(Quick, 2014; Rethink Mental Illness, 2014; Naylor et al., 2015). This means staying in contact and following up with service users, whilst under the care of additional services i.e. drug and alcohol teams, diabetes specialist teams. Undertaking these responsibilities will enhance the continuity of care between services, and subsequently improve the quality of care. Furthermore, it will reduce the likelihood of service users from “falling through the gap” when transferring between these