 To mark annual mental health awareness week (13-19 May 2024) we published two new blogs from Chris Dzikiti, Interim Chief Inspector of Healthcare.
In a joint blog Chris Dzikiti and Dr Jacqui Dyer, Mental Health Equalities Advisor at NHS England, talk about the work our two organisations are doing to implement the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF).
In another blog we explore the results of the recently published Community mental health survey, focusing on new insights on child and adolescent mental health services.
 The Government has introduced regulations to restrict the prescribing and supply of puberty suppressing hormones, known as ‘puberty blockers’, to children and young people under 18 in England, Wales and Scotland.
The emergency ban will last from 3 June 2024 to 3 September 2024, and will apply to prescriptions written by UK private prescribers and prescribers registered in the European Economic Area (EEA), or Switzerland.
During this period, no new patients experiencing gender dysphoria/incongruence under the age of 18 will be prescribed these medicines for the purposes of puberty suppression.
In addition, the Government has also introduced indefinite restrictions to the prescribing of these medicines within NHS primary care in England, in line with NHS guidelines.
Patients already established on these medicines by a UK prescriber for these purposes can continue to access them. They will also remain available for patients receiving the drugs for other uses, from a UK-registered prescriber.
Improvements to our internal finance systems
 We're making improvements to our internal finance systems next month, subject to successful completion of testing and ensuring we’re ready for the change. This means you will soon be able to contact us directly about paying your fee by emailing our Contact Centre. They will resolve your queries or put you directly in touch with our Finance team on your payment-related queries.
We will share the new email address with you from 10 June, subject to all checks being completed. You will also be able to see more detailed information on your invoice.
If you have not got a direct debit in place, you can contact our Finance team at direct.debit@cqc.org.uk, quoting your provider ID to set one up. For alternative modes of payment and more information, please refer back to an email sent earlier this month - read the full message.
 In our previous integrated care system (ICS) update, we announced that we had agreed with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to a short delay to starting our assessments to allow for further refinements to our approach.
After the general election due to take place on 4 July, we will be engaging with the new government to obtain the approvals required to begin our assessments.
When we have received government approval of our ICS assessment methodology, we will publish the reports of our pilot assessments, our evaluation of the pilots, and updated guidance on our approach ahead of starting ICS assessments.
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