Our mental health needs protecting, but too many people feel forced to deal with the burden of their work alone.

Read the blog here.

Skills for Care is offering funding and support to facilitate conversations between commissioners and social care providers across London and the South East.

The funding has been awarded by the Department of Health and Social Care to support local Transforming Care partnerships with workforce development. It supports the request made by the NHS England Learning Disability Programme Board about stimulating the provider market to bring long-stay patients home.

The support offered by Skills for Care includes the organisation and facilitation of meetings and events, engagement with local providers and workforce planning. Depending on levels of interest, the funding may be available to support small or larger projects.

To find out more, please contact Margaret Sharpe, margaret.sharpe@skillsforcare.org.uk, by 15 February, 2018.

Carrying out a best interests assessment is a complex but vital task. Its purpose is to decide whether a deprivation of liberty is happening or may happen, and if it is whether this is in the best interests of the person affected.

Tips from Community Care here.

The NHS wants to change the guidance it has for Clinical Commissioning Groups around prescribing medicine for minor illnesses.

They propose that, for 33 illnesses that can be easily treated at home, they should stop prescribing the medicine. Instead, the patient should buy these over the counter at the pharmacy or supermarket and look after themselves at home.

Find out more from CHANGE and support people to take their easy read survey.

Report from the Social care workforce research unit is available here.