NSUN news

Following the launch of the Mental Health Taskforce report, the Guardian are looking for your stories

As the final report of an independent taskforce describes the chronic underfunding of care and huge numbers of people missing out on treatment, the Guardian are looking for experiences and stories. You can respond online here.

NSUN Members' Survey

Help us evaluate our work and shape next year's priorities: We are seeking the views of members and stakeholders in order to evaluate our work and plan the coming year's priorities.

We would like to thank you in advance for giving up your time to complete this survey. It will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. The deadline for responses is Friday 26th February 2016.

Member Blogs

Stephen Fry’s exploration of manic depression (in the current BBC series on mental health, ‘In the Mind‘) has drawn both praise and criticism.  Psychology Professor Richard Bentall, has sent an open letter to the actor which offers a differing perspective.

The UN inquiry into alleged violations of disabled people’s human rights by the government could lead to better times for people with mental ill health, says Stephanie Taylor-King

The Giving Machine

NSUN is raising money via the Giving Machine.

• You join for free and choose NSUN as a cause to support.
• You generate commissions by shopping online (over 1,500 retailers including Amazon, Play.com, John Lewis, eBay, Sainsbury’s and Next).
• The Giving Machine converts your commissions into donations .  You’re raising funds for free!

Click here for the NSUN page.

Previously shared information available online

Please visit our website to find involvement opportunities, jobs and events we shared in previous e-bulletins. This includes our guides to support involvement in reducing the use of restraint in mental health settings.

LGBT mental health

As LGBT History Month is celebrated in the UK this February, NSUN has collected recently published articles about LGBT mental health.

You can find these here, along with some information concerning the LGBT History Month Festival.

Healthy Minds Calderdale: Consultation on Local Authority Mental Health services and CQC visiting Forum

Forum meeting 1-3pm at Voluntary Action Calderdale Resource Centre, Hall Street, Halifax on Wednesday 24 February.  During thismeeting there will be a consultation on Local Authority Mental Healthservices and there will be the opportunity to talk to two people fromthe CQC about your experiences of SWYFT (South West Yorkshire FoundationTrust). The CQC are due to do an inspection of SWYFT so worth speaking
to.

Forum meeting on Monday 14 March 5.30-7.30pm at the Orangebox, 1 Blackledge, Halifax HX1 1AF. I am hoping that Sue Sutcliffe from SWYFT will be attending this meeting to give people who use services/ have used services the chance to speak to her about the proposed closure of the art psychotherapy service.

To know more please email or visit the website

Media Speculation on Publication of the Consultation on Human Rights Act Reform

There have been a number of reports in the media speculating that the government is about to publish its consultation paper on repealing the Human Rights Act and replacing it with a British Bill of Rights. The date of the consultation’s publication has not yet been officially announced or confirmed by the government and so the recent speculation may prove to be incorrect.

Human Rights Pledge - signed by over 90 Human rights Alliance members (including NSUN)

Ahead of the publication of the consultation, The British Institute of Human Rights, Liberty and Amnesty International UK have set up the Human Rights Pledge to make clear our united opposition to the government’s plans to repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights because these plans will reduce the protections we all have by taking us away from universal human rights.

If your organisation has not already done so but would like to join in supporting the Pledge, please email Helen at hwildbore@bihr.org.uk.

Recovery In the Bin publishes open letter to Shadow Minister for Mental Health

Recovery in the Bin is a User Led Mental Health Activist Facebook Group campaigning for Social Justice and Equality in mental health care and practice, with a focus on critiquing and challenging mainstream 'recovery' ideology.

This letter to Luciana Berger, Shadow Minister for Mental Health, challenges and highlights the link between neoliberal politics and mental health experiences in the UK. The letter includes Recovery in the Bin's 18 Key Principles.

Help the UK Council for Psychotherapy make their website more user-friendly - researcher looking for volunteers to interview today 22 February

The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) are re-developing their website and are keen to make it user-friendly, especially for people seeking support.

Louise Petre, a researcher working with UKCP's website company, is looking to interview people over the phone, on Monday 22 February. The conversation would not last more than 15 minutes. Even though the conversation will be recorded only the researcher will use to the recording.

If you have any questions concerning this, please contact Sandra Scott, Communications Manager, UKCP on 020 7014 9973, or email

WALES charity warns of short-term savings to mental health budgets may lead to long term problems

Replacing specialist care services w generic care to cut costs can result in long term problems, many people could 'end up losing portions of their lives' says Alun Thomas Chief Exec at Hafal, Wales

Mr Thomas told the BBC's Sunday Politics Wales programme that taking mental health services back from charities and other contractors would 'store up problems for the future because we're going to end up spending far more long-term and people are going to end up in hospital'. A  spokes person responded: 'we understand calls to invest in order to avert future problems (...) but the scale of cuts does not allow for this'

Read more here

A festival of  arts and health

The 5th annual festival of arts and health will bring together artists, clinicians, commissioners and thinkers to explore the myriad ways the arts impact on wellbeing between 13 and 19 June 2016.

The festival is easy to be involved in – you can upload events here: it is a great way to let people know about your work, involve the wider community in what you are doing and generally to celebrate creativity and health.

The deadline for events to be included is 11th March

To find out more please email the organisers |  follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook

Job opportunity

Blackfriars Settlement is a registered charity providing services to the community. The organisation works with people, creating opportunities for them to achieve their aspirations, to meet individual needs within a multi-purpose framework. An employment opportunity has just open.

Mental Health Services Co-ordinator - 21 hours per week - £32,010 (pro rata), Responsible for the management and development of the Mental Health and Well Being Service. To download a job pack please visit here.
You can also call 0207 928 9521 or email

CQC strategy consultation

You can still respond to the Care Quality Commission’s consultation on its plans for the next five years as it develops its approach to regulation.

CQC has changed the way it works over the past three years and in its consultation document Shaping the future  it sets out a vision for the future regulation of health and social care.

The way health and social care is delivered has changed and is continuing to change, with increasing numbers of acute NHS trusts providing social care, more GP federations, and technology playing a greater role in the way services are delivered - coupled with the demographic challenge of increasing numbers of older people with needs that will be met by more than one service. In this consultation document, CQC sets out proposals that respond to these new ways of working. 

CQC is also asking for views on its proposed approach to using data, which will support a risk-based approach to regulation. In turn, this will support a more targeted and tailored inspection programme that allows CQC to inspect services rated good and outstanding less frequently and to lend greater support to those performing less well.

The consultation is open until 14 March. CQC will formally respond to the feedback provided when it publishes its strategy in May.

• A link to the consultation document Shaping the future can be found here.
• You can respond to the consultation through this web form or by email strategyconsultation@cqc.org.uk.
• You can also tweet your thoughts at #cqcstrategy.

News from RethinkYourMind

The Yellow book is online

Created by those with experience of mental health challenges, themselves service users – the yellow book's purpose to creatively support positive mental health. The book contains 50 pieces of art, photography and poetry which were submitted as part of this year's RethinkYourMind competition.
Find out more here

Enter this year's visual arts and poetry competition

The next competition launches on World Mental Health Day in October this year! The project is free to enter & positive poetry, art & photography will be accepted from this date. You can get more information by getting in touch with RethinkYourMind, using their 'contact us' page

SLaM meeting

The governors of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) are holding a meeting in Southwark on 3 March 2016 at Cambridge House, 1 Addington Square, London SE5 0HF, from 2pm until 4.30pm for members and the public to have their say and find out more about what is going on locally to support mental health. The meeting is aimed at the trust’s 13,000 members and anyone who uses SLaM’s services or wants to find out more about what SLaM does.

It is an opportunity to give feedback or ask questions about your experiences and meet with members of the trust’s leadership team. Come along and have your say. The meeting will be chaired by a publicly elected governor of the trust.

 How to get involved:

• Come along to the meeting: everyone is invited - if you are currently using SLaM’s mental health services, or have a friend or relative who is, SLaM would especially like to hear from you.
• Share your ideas online: if you have views you would like to share or questions you would like raised at the meetings please share them on twitter using the handle @maudsleynhs and #slamhaveyoursay

Refreshments will be provided.

You do not have to RSVP but it would be helpful to know for planning purposes whether you will be attending. Please email Carol Stevenson or call 020 322 2411

NCIA Legacy website

Following its closure the National Coalition for Independent Action (NCIA) has redesigned its website – www.independentaction.net –  as a legacy site. Here NCIA has assembled and re-grouped the principal publications, research reports, campaign materials, interviews, media pieces and other evidence that it had accrued between 2006 and closure. 

NCIA hopes that by accessing this site you will be able to gain insight into the reasons why NCIA was set up, what it did during the nearly 10 years, and why, in 2015, NCIA decided to stop.

The NCIA website is also part of the British Library's national web archive. You can access the entire website here as it was presented at points between 2010 and NCIA's closure. NCIA's material has been handed over to the Bishopsgate Institute for archiving for posterity. You will be given access to it once it has been catalogued.

West Midlands Mental Health Commission: Citizens Jury

The Commission is looking for 20 local people to meet together twice a week for 2.5 hours over 4 weeks to talk about mental health and wellbeing in the West Midlands.

The aim is to explore people’s experiences of mental health and wellbeing and start to answer the question ‘How can public services help to build wellbeing and keep people mentally well in the West Midlands?’ (Public services are the things that government provides for people living in the area). You don’t need to have special skills or knowledge. All you need is to be willing to talk about your views and opinions and listen to those of other people.

The first four sessions will be held in March and the last four will be in May. This is a paid opportunity. The closing date for applications is Friday 4th March.

You can find more  information and the online application form here.

London crisis care survey

Healthy London Partnership’s Mental Health Crisis Care programme is undertaking engagement with service-users and carers to further understand the experiences of people who have undergone a mental health crisis in London.  Mind have supported the programme in developing an online survey, which is focussed on the experiences of those whose crisis led to:

• attending an Emergency Department (A&E) or
• being detained under section 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act by the police

Prime Minister's mental health announcement

The Prime Minister announced on 15 February that 'tens of thousands of people with mental health conditions will be supported to find or return to work as part of a massive new drive to transform treatment in England'.

Department of Health's shared delivery plan update

The shared delivery plan describes the Department of Health's and its agencies' priority objectives for 2015 to 2020.