NIHR Maudsley BRC Blog

Our latest news and events

Universal Credit: how people who have accessed mental health services journey through the welfare system

Researchers from King's IoPPN are linking data from electronic health records to data from benefits records to understand how people with mental health problems move through the welfare system. A new study has focussed on Universal Credit which is a welfare benefit to help with living costs, available to people who are on a low income, out of work, or unable to get work. In this blog Dr Sarah Ledden discusses the findings and what they suggest for welfare reform going forwards.

 

By NIHR Maudsley BRC at 29 Jul 2025

Living alone is linked to poor health and unemployment amongst those with severe mental illness, study finds

New research from King’s College London has shown that over three quarters of people with severe mental illness report they are economically inactive, with around two thirds reporting a disability and poor health.

By NIHR Maudsley BRC at 10 Dec 2024

People with severe mental illness more than four times as likely to die from pneumonia compared to the general population

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London has found that people with severe mental illness (SMI) - such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia - are more than four times as likely to die from pneumonia compared to the general population.

 

By NIHR Maudsley BRC at 9 Oct 2024

Personal independence payments (PIP) among people who access mental health services

Earlier this year under the Conservative government a Green paper opened up a consultation on the future of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) - a welfare benefit claimed by many people with mental health and neurodivergent conditions as well as people with physical health conditions. Researchers from King’s College London investigated how this benefit is received by people who are accessing mental health services and, together with members of a patient and public involvement and engagement group who advise on the project, have written a blog to explain their latest findings.

By NIHR Maudsley BRC at 26 Sep 2024

Ethnicity mismatches in administrative data linkages

In this blog Alice Wickersham, Research Associate at King's IoPPN, reflects on the journey of exploring the data from the Department of Education and data from Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) system, how she discovered a mismatch in their ethnicity variables and what this means for research in this area. With other authors from IoPPN and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust she has published a paper on this subject in BMJ Open. 

By NIHR Maudsley BRC at 6 Mar 2024