Tuesday, June 22, 2004

NHS trust and social services build system to share records across multiple agencies (UK)
Story in Computer Weekly - "Croydon Primary Care Trust and Croydon Council's social services department are developing a multi-agency information sharing system to access residents' health and social care information via a single view on their screens. ... The first phase of the project is to unify data to support the single assessment process for older people. The technology will then be extended to other multi-agency information sharing initiatives such as supporting integrated mental health teams and creating an electronic social care record..."  
  

U.S. Prison Woes For Mentally Ill
CBS News story - "...The interaction of the U.S. law enforcement system with the mentally ill has grown dramatically, with increasingly tragic results — not to mention considerable expense to state and local governments. An estimated 16 percent of U.S. prison and jail inmates are mentally ill, compared to only 5 percent of the general population. A study by the U.S. Justice Department found nearly half the mentally ill inmates were imprisoned for a nonviolent crime. The mentally ill are more expensive to incarcerate, stay behind bars longer and return more frequently..."  
  

Mental-health sufferers lack support (Washington)
Story in The Columbian focused on one woman, whose experiences have "...drawn attention to a mental- health system so fragmented that people in need can easily go untreated. Even those who have private insurance often struggle to get services. And those who successfully navigate the bureaucratic maze sometimes give up on their treatments."