TUES 25 MARCH 1:00PM - 2:00PM

Department Seminar Series:

Antidepressant use among children

Sonia Bhalotra is Professor of Economics. She is a labour economist by training with research expertise in health (including mental health), gender and political economy.

Join Sonia as she investigates impacts of antidepressant treatment among Danish children who have been referred to a child psychiatrist.

Leveraging conditional random assignment of patients to psychiatrists with different prescribing tendencies, the study finds that treatment increases school test scores and the probability of post-compulsory education.

Since an FDA warning in 2004 that antidepressants may increase suicidality among children, the prescribing rate has fallen, teen suicides have increased and the evidence that led to the warning has been questioned. 

• For in-person attendance: attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis.
• For online attendance: please register via here: bit.ly/3WhHfLE

THURS 27 MARCH 6:00PM - 8:00PM

A new 10-year plan for the NHS: what should be in it?

The new Labour government is producing a 10-year plan for the NHS in England. The health service is in crisis after a decade of austerity, the COVID-19 pandemic, and political failures by previous governments. The NHS – like health systems across Europe – is facing pressures from labour shortages and a population ageing in poor health. The cracks are evident – for instance, in waiting times for hospital care – and patients are suffering as a result. The government has promised to recover services and ‘transform’ the NHS so it is ‘fit for the future’. The new 10-year plan aims to tell us how, including reforms to achieve three broad ‘shifts’ in NHS services: more community-based care, disease prevention, and use of digital technology. But the NHS has a long history of producing long-term plans – with mixed results. So what should be in the new plan? And how does government learn from the past to make it happen?

The event will focus on:

• The current challenges facing the NHS in England to be addressed in the plan;
• What we can learn from looking back at previous long-term plans for the NHS;
• What should be the priorities for the 10-year plan.

Confirmed speakers:

• Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy, The Health Foundation
• Caroline Clarke, Regional Director, NHS London 
• Dr Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive, The Health Foundation
• Prof. Kamila Hawthorne MBE, Chair of RCGP Council
• Prof. Andrew Street, Professor of Health Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Nick Timmins, Senior Fellow, Institute for Government

This event will take place in-person on LSE campus, Wolfson Theatre, CKK building. 

There will be a drinks and nibbles reception after the panel session concludes.

Please register here

Previous events

See past Department of Health Policy events here.