Wednesday 24 July 2013

To The Barricades?

In the last few posts I've used information from a CQC publication to show a few, widely acknowledged problems with the mental health system in England. The first showed that over 12,000 people are being denied their legal rights. The second showed that poor commissioning has led to people being denied their rights, and gave some suggestions for changing this. The most recent post pointed to wider problems of illegal detention and treatment of people in psychiatric hospitals, of an attempt by some staff to outsource their legal responsibilities for providing people information.

This collection of statements should shock us. The fact that most people who have had dealings with the mental health system will not be shocked by them troubles me deeply.There seems to be a widespread resignation  that things are like that, that change is unlikely, that we should settle for small victories. I no longer want to settle.

I've had a lot of discussions with people as a result of those blogs. Most agree that the situations is appalling. However, when asked how things should be changed the answers dry up somewhat.

Take the example of underfunding of IMHA services. IMHA is accepted as having a key role in supporting people to have more control over their care in very distressing situations.  Yet despite proof that IMHA is generally underfunded, that this has been known since at least 2009, that people have a legal right of access to this service and that this is being denied to thousands, nothing happens. People point out that if we were to fund the IMHA service properly it would lead to reductions in funding for other kinds of advocacy, that maybe we shouldn't be rocking the boat. I don't believe we should be picking and choosing which legal rights we are willing to fight for.

Given the importance that CQC rightly places on people having a voice in their own care, and the fact that CQC reports have repeatedly observed a systematic breaching of people's rights to an IMHA, I might naively expect them to take some action. I have been told that the noting of these breaches leads to a pressure, a knowledge that services should improve their practice, the weight of expectations. Unfortunately, I still believe the title of this blog is relevant - that the distance from "should" to "is" is immense. If CQC does not have some means of implementing the service improvement aspect of its role, of compelling  change in a system which it has identified is malfunctioning, it creates a vacuum that leads either to anger or despair.

So what happens next? How are professionals, services and commissioners meant to be held to account? Unless there is some concerted action by CQC in this regard, it appears that the responsibility lies ultimately on people who are being mistreated and denied their rights. I have heard many people say that things won't change until someone takes a professional or authority to court . Not so much "to the barricades!" as "To the barristers!"

I feel that this is highly unfair. It should not be up to the people who use a hospital to make the system work. Nevertheless, as things currently stand we are placing responsibility for maintaining dignity and rights upon the very people who are having these things denied them.

Personally I do not want to see the money that is so badly needed to support good care being diverted into legal battles, costs and damages. I don't want people to have to fight for good care. I don't want to see hard worked doctors or nurses sued for treating someone without obtaining their consent as a result of inappropriate threats of detention. These do not seem like good uses of energy, but in the absence of other moves towards addressing the situation they seem increasingly likely.

Of course, one barrier to legal challenges being raised is that often people aren't aware of their rights or of their ways of accessing justice. That doesn't have to be the case. There are ways in which people could be supported to raise legal challenges more easily; ways that a link could be forged between individuals, service user groups and the legal profession.

I'm reminded of the yellow card scheme for reporting undocumented side effects of medication. Any time someone talked about a doctor disbelieving them when they described unwanted side effects of the medication they were taking, you could pull out a card on which to record this and send it to a central point for collation. The view of one person might be discounted. The accumulated experience of hundreds or thousands are harder to ignore.

Think of how many service user groups there are out there. Think how many advocacy providers. Think how many local services or support systems for people facing mental health issues. These are all points of potential access, information and support.  Imagine how easy it would be connect these experiences now in this age of social media. Imagine how many legal challenges could arise - my quick calculation in my first blog puts the potential number above ten thousand. That's starting to sound quite expensive to me.

So should we spend public money ensuring people have dignified, appropriate and legal treatment that supports people towards recovery or should spend it instead fighting legal battles to defend a system that isn't working properly? I believe that positive change is the better route but I'm willing explore alternatives.

I'm in the process of developing an organisation called True Voice. I'm going to use it for various things, one of which is to do some campaigning.  If you're interested in continuing this conversation, either comment below or email me 

5 comments:

  1. I tried in vain to post this comment via my wordpress account. Feel free to post it on your blog on my behalf!

    I think there is potential to build on the yellow card scheme. I think there is something about making something that seems invisible and hidden and making it physical through colour, textiles, painting. There is a lot going on in arts and health, a long standing tradition of people with mental health needs engaging with the arts - consider the recent exhibition of Outside In recenthttp://www.tulliehouse.co.uk/outside. So, what about a campaign engaging people with experience of mental health issues which engages with art. Create an on-line exhibition - people send in photograph? Guerilla knitting with a focus on mental health? An installation? So many strands that could be picked up on.

    Kay

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    1. Sorry you had problems posting your comment on here.
      If anyone else has a similar problem just email me on ask@truevoicetrust.org and I'll post it up here.

      Think you've got some interesting thoughts there Kay. I think the key points are organising, raising information and finding a way of applying pressure. Anyone who wants to help think through those things, please get in touch.

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    2. This problem is throughout the whole country. My sister was held in a locked ward for 21 months after I was told she was fit for release. They wouldn't let me take her home, they said if I tried they would use the powers of the mental health act to hold her. She was then over medicated to the point of catatonia and died in Sept. 2012 aged just 51 having been in hospital since June 2010. I tried to fight for her then and I am still fighting now. No one should be made to suffer this kind of treatment.

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    3. I'm so sorry. There are simply no words. I will do what I can.

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    4. Just to point out that the comment at the top is from Kay who can be found at http://changingconversations.wordpress.com/

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