Useful Links and Organisations

Mental Health Foundation – www.mentalhealth.org.uk 

Founded in 1949, the Mental Health Foundation is a leading UK charity that provides information, carries out research, campaigns and works to improve services for anyone affected by mental health problems, whatever their age and wherever they live.

We aim to help people survive, recover from and prevent mental health problems. We do this by:

• learning what makes and keeps people mentally well
• communicating our findings to a wide range of people
• turning our research into practical solutions that make a difference to people's lives 

 

Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities - www.learningdisabilities.org.uk

The Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities works to promote the rights, quality of life and opportunities of people with learning disabilities and their families.  

 We do this by working with people with learning disabilities, their families and the people who support them.

 We carry out research, promote the rights of people with learning disabilities, improve services and spread knowledge and information.

 

Learning Disability Coalition - www.learningdisabilitycoalition.org.uk 

Our aim is to make sure there is enough public funding for people with a learning disability so they have the same life chances and choices as everyone else.

The British Institute of Learning Disabilities (bild) - www.bild.org.uk

Is working to improve the lives of people in the UK with a learning disability.

We work with the government and other organisations to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities.  We also do research, such as how to include people with learning disabilities in making decisions.  We tell other people about what we find.

We train staff, family carers and people with a learning disability.  We involve people with a learning disability in some of the training.  We publish books, journals and training materials.  Members of BILD get lots of benefits, including free copies of a BILD journal.    BILD has information on learning disabilities for members.  We work with advocacy groups and people with learning disabilities to help them give their views on the services they receive.

The Estia Centre - www.estiacentre.org 

Is a training, research and development resource for those who support adults with learning disabilities and additional mental health needs. The Estia Centre is based on the Guy’s Hospital Campus and is an integral part of local services for people with learning disabilities provided by the South London & Maudsley NHS Trust. The Estia Centre is also an Academic Section of the Institute of Psychiatry of (Division of Psychological Medicine and Health Service Research Department) King’s College London. The Estia Centre aims to support the development of a competent workforce, from support staff to experienced managers and from a variety of services. By working in close collaboration with clinical services, we aim to improve the care of people with learning disabilities, especially those with additional mental health and challenging needs through evidence-based practice.

National Personality Disorder Website - www.personalitydisorder.org.uk

Welcome to the National Personality Disorder Website – providing information, resources and learning opportunities on Personality Disorder (PD) as well as supporting the development of the National PD Programme.

Hearing Voices Network - www.hearing-voices.org 

We offer information, support and understanding to people who hear voices and those who support them.  The aims of the network are

• To raise awareness of voice hearing, visions, tactile sensations and other sensory experiences
• To give men women and children who have these experiences an opportunity to talk freely about this together.
• To support anyone with these experiences seeking to understand, learn and grow from them in their own way.

National Phobics Society - www.phobics-society.org.uk

NPS is a national registered charity formed 30 years ago by a sufferer of agoraphobia for those affected by anxiety disorders. Today we are still a user-led organisation, run by sufferers and ex-sufferers of anxiety disorders supported by a high-profile medical advisory panel.

The National Phobics Society works to relieve and support those living with anxiety disorders by providing information, support and understanding via an extensive range of services, including 1:1 therapy services. We work regularly with external agencies and healthcare professionals to improve the service provision offered in the main to those living with anxiety disorders. We also campaign to raise awareness of anxiety disorders through holding events like our annual 'Anxiety Disorders Awareness Week'.

We can provide support and help if you've been diagnosed with, or suspect you may have an anxiety condition as listed on the right. We can also help you deal with specific phobias such as fear of spiders, blushing, vomiting, being alone, public speaking, heights - in fact, any fear that's stopped you from getting on with your life.

Depression Alliance – www.depressionalalliance.org

Depression Alliance is the leading UK charity for people affected by depression.

We work to relieve and to prevent this treatable condition by providing information and support services. We also campaign to raise awareness amongst the general public about the realities of depression

Mind – www.mind.org.uk

Mind is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales. We work to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress by:

• advancing the views, needs and ambitions of people with mental health problems
• challenging discrimination and promoting inclusion
• influencing policy through campaigning and education
• inspiring the development of quality services which reflect expressed need and diversity
• achieving equal rights through campaigning and education.

In all our work we promote our values: informed, determined, diversity, integrity and partnership.

Rethink – www.rethink.org - Rethink, the leading national mental health membership charity, works to help everyone affected by severe mental illness recover a better quality of life.

Our aim is to make a practical and positive difference by providing hope and empowerment through effective services, information and support to all those who need us. People who use our services and their carers are at the heart of our vision and we believe that all those who experience severe mental illness are entitled to be treated with respect and as equal citizens. We carry out research which informs both our own and national mental health policy and actively campaign for change through greater awareness and understanding. And we are dedicated to creating a world where prejudice and discrimination are eliminated.  

National Autistic Society – www.nas.org.uk - We champion the rights and interests of all people with autism and aim to provide individuals with autism and their families with help, support and services that they can access, trust and rely upon and which can make a positive difference to their lives.

Our website includes information about autism and Asperger syndrome, the NAS and its services and activities.

Department of Health – www.dh.gov.uk - The Department of Health (DH) exists to improve the health and wellbeing of people in England.

Commission for Social Care Inspection – www.csci.org.uk - We inspect and report on care services and councils. We are independent but set up by Government to improve social care and stamp out bad practice.

Pavilion Publishing - www.pavpub.com - Pavilion is the leading publisher and event organiser for professionals delivering public services, whether they work in the public, private or voluntary sectors.

Our objective is to share best practice through the dissemination of
high-quality training materials, exhibitions, conferences, journals.

Department for Constitutional Affairs – www.dca.gov.uk/menincap/legis.htm - The Mental Capacity Act governs decision-making on behalf of adults, where they lose mental capacity at some point in their lives or where the incapacitating condition has been present since birth. The Act received Royal Assent on 7 April 2005 and will came into force during 2007.

Mental Health Act Commission – www.mhac.org.uk

The Mental Health Act Commission provides a safeguard for people who are detained in hospital under the powers of the Mental Health Act 1983. (This is the only part of healthcare where patients can be treated under compulsion, and necessarily there are very clear legal requirements on hospitals and the other services involved - primarily Local Authority social services). The Mental Health Act Commission is a monitoring body rather than an inspectorate or regulator. Its concern is primarily the legality of detention and the protection of individuals' human rights. In addition to a visiting programme, the Commission provides important safeguards to patients who lack capacity or refuse to consent to treatment, through the Second Opinion Appointed Doctor Service.

The Mental Health Act Commission was established in 1983 and consists of some 100 members (Commissioners), including laypersons, lawyers, doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and other specialists.

 

Office of Public Sector Information – www.opsi.gov.uk – (Mental Health Act 2007) - Operating from within the National Archives, the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is at the heart of information policy, setting standards, delivering access and encouraging the re-use of public sector information. OPSI provides a wide range of services to the public, information industry, government and the wider public sector relating to finding, using, sharing and trading information.

Operating from within OPSI, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO) continues to exist and fulfil its core activities including responsibility for the publication of legislation and the management of Crown copyright.