Janssen sets up new mental health social networking site
pharmafile | November 28, 2011 | News story | Medical Communications | J&J, JJ, Janssen, NHS
Janssen and the NHS Confederation have established a new mental health social networking site.
The service, which will be free to join for the next 12 months, is a joint venture between the NHS Confederation mental health network, which represents managers from most NHS health trusts and Janssen, which is part of Johnson & Johnson.
The new social networking site is aimed at emerging GP commissioners and will give them access to the most up-to-date policy information.
It will also help them share best practice, provide the latest evidence-based approaches and offer opportunities to learn from current commissioners of mental health services.
Those joining up will also be offered the chance to meet face-to-face at regional meetings and explore how to go about service change.
Janssen said it would invest half of the resources toward the scheme, with the Confederation contributing the other half. The total cash cost will be £76,941 ($120,000) to set up the project.
Johnson & Johnson’s biggest selling mental health drug is its atypical antipsychotic Risperdal (risperidone) and Risperdal Consta, which are marketed in Europe for the treatment of schizophrenia.
The site is geared toward the new GP groups as from 2013 they will become the new commissioners for the NHS, and will have new responsibilities for mental health.
Steve Shrubb, NHS Confederation mental health network director, said: “About one in six people has some form of mental illness and GPs already recognise that mental illness is one of the most common illnesses people come to them with.
“By putting GPs in charge of commissioning budgets there are huge opportunities to get better at intervening early and making sure people get access to the most appropriate care.
“There is, however, a great deal of unease about how ready GPs are to take over the commissioning of mental health services.
“This fact sheet will launch a whole programme of work that the Mental Health Network will be undertaking with Janssen to help GP commissioners assume their new responsibilities in mental health.”
Isabel Laas, business unit director at Janssen, said: “The transition of mental health commissioning to primary care will raise questions and challenges for the effective delivery of care to patients.
“This partnership is a fantastic opportunity to help GPs optimise the way in which people affected by mental illness are managed by the NHS.”
Janssen is also currently working with mental health charities Sane and Rethink on ‘Choosing Well’, a mental health map with information about “the art and science of staying well”.
The networking site can be accessed here via Yammer (requires sign up).
Ben Adams is the reporter for Pharmafocus and InPharm.com. He can be contacted via: email or Twitter.
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