I was contacted recently by a friend and colleague now retired. She was an NHS mental health worker, who gave her all for years flat out, feelingly and wisely. Now she paces and grieves. Here is a slightly abridged version of what she wrote : “I have met with several ex-colleagues recently. On Saturday I bumped into [one] who said… continue reading
Category mental health policy
Mental Health Witness – how to consult with people who have turned to you for help
Here is a version of a message just written to a mental health manager who recently sent me a draft-“user involvement strategy” being put together for the service where she works. I am soon to retire from a part-time post as free-lance consultant to a group of mental health service users. My task has been to facilitate the process by… continue reading
Mental Health Witness – malpractice in mental health consultation
Health and Social Services in the UK often run open meetings for people who use mental health services. Such meetings are seen as opportunities to give people information on new policy developments, as well as letting them “have their say.” By definition, an open meeting means anyone might come, in whatever state they are in. An invitation to an open… continue reading
Mental Health Witness – Marketing “Recovery”
In the mental health services, the “Recovery Model” has achieved good sales in recent years. Good pitch, good branding. Upwardly-mobile managers and organisations able to lay claim to being passionate about “recovery” win brownie-points and funding. We function in that sort of climate these days, in the care services. But this seems more than just a “brand.” I meet people… continue reading
Mental Health Witness – Who’s a Skiver, then ?
George Osborne’s division of the nation into Us “Strivers” and Them “Skivers” (but weren’t we once “all in this together” ?) has reminded me of some nineteenth century history I learned at school. It provides some context for Osborne’s venomous jingle two centuries later, and a way of measuring its quality and pedigree. I still find the nineteenth century fascinating,… continue reading
Mental Health Witness – are UK services getting worse ?
I was at an event at the Poetry Society in London the other night, celebrating the 21st anniversary of a small charity concerned with mental health and creativity. The charity’s Chair stood up and suggested that mental health services are actually worse now than they were when the charity was founded, all those years ago. That was a big and… continue reading