Monthly Newsletter of Camden Mental Health Consortium

ISSUE 53

JANUARY 2002

A recent issue of The Sunday Times contained a collection of articles by famous people who had ‘come out’ as having mental health problems – Alastair Campbell (the PMs Spin Guru), Paul Merton (the comedian), Patsy Palmer (former Eastenders star).

Does it help to know that such people can become ill in this way?  If the Government’s figure of 1in 4 is anywhere near the truth, then it must be true.  But no doubt it helps a bit to have that figure confirmed.

Does it reduce the stigma?  That seems an open question and depends on whether the knowledge that it really does affect ‘real people’ changes people’s attitudes. 

However, it is always good to hear that people can triumph over adversity and in each of these cases the person recovered and went on to become a success. 

One of the central planks of service-user involvement is the inclusion of users on appointment panels.  This has been recognised by both Camden Social Services and the Mental Health Trust.

There are some questions about this idea.  If a service user is on a panel which appoints someone who subsequently has some responsibility for that person’s care does this make for a difficult relationship?  Does the fact that the patient will then know more than is usual about someone involved in their treatment make that process more or less difficult and affect the outcome?  The practice has not been around long enough for there to be any real information available yet, but it is a lead in to a wider question.  Should we treat users in the same area where they are involved?

Medical staff who experience mental ill-health would not normally be treated in the same hospital and by the same staff with whom they work.  Should this apply too to those service users who are ‘involved’?

If in the course of their ‘involvement’ a service-user is the subject of a complaint how should this be dealt with?  Are they subject to the disciplinary policy of the organisation with which they are involved?  These are complicated questions without any clear answers, but if user involvement is to develop and be effective, they need to be addressed.

CMHC  ANNUAL  GENERAL  MEETING  

CHANGES

Appointments have been made to the posts of User Development Officer and User Employment Officer within the Mental Health Trust.  We will have more information about the people who have been appointed to these posts in the next issue of the Bugle.

The Mental Health Trust has appointed Dr Rob Pugh as its Medical Director and Claire Johnstone and Lis Jones to job-share the post of Director of Nursing.

The MH Trust’s User Advisory Group has now decided to widen its membership and anyone who would like to join should contact Jackie Drury, Assistant Locality Director on 020 7530 2737 to discuss the possibilities. 

Sokratis Dinos has been appointed to continue the CMHC/RFH Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences research programme into Stigma.  This is a joint project between the department and CMHC is funded by Camden Social Services.  He replaces Dr Chris Bagley who left the post in November.  He will be working with a number of service users to interview people about their experiences.  This work will be intensive since it is hoped that it will be concluded and reported by July 2002.

CMHC recognises the developments in information technology and the government’s wish to have everyone on-line by 2005.  It will therefore be developing an information website over the coming twelve months.  However, we recognise that not everyone has access to the technology or likes it and therefore we will be working to make it possible for the information to be downloaded into a document format.

CAMDEN  BOROUGH  USER  GROUP  (CBUG)

CBUG will be holding an AwayDay for members and guests on Wednesday, 23 January.  This will be an opportunity for the members to meet and get to know each other and discuss how the group will develop and what tasks it will begin to undertake. 

We recognise that the membership numbers are not yet large enough to  make CBUG the force that we would really like it to be and so we will consider whether we should undertake a rolling programme of recruitment to build the numbers and promote the idea more widely.

The post of User Development Co-ordinator, with special responsibility for CBUG, is to be advertised in The Guardian and other newspapers this week.  This is now a full-time post with a one-year contract and we are hoping that there will be a number of high-quality applications for it.  It is expected that the person appointed will start work at the end of March 2002.  This will see the second developmental phase of CBUG.

SOUTH  CAMDEN  LMAG

The South Camden Locality Management Advisory Group met again in January.  The meeting was taken up with the developments within the MH Trust and the establishment of the proposed Mental Health & Social Care Trust.  It considered how CBUG would take user involvement forward in the South Camden area and the introduction of CBUG members onto the LMAG.  There were questions about the Camden Crisis House.  The meeting also saw the reports of visits by the Mental Health Act Commission to The Huntley Centre, St Luke’s Hospital and Camden Social Services.  The next SCamden LMAG will spend part of its time looking at the Trust’s Seclusion Policy.  The whole idea of seclusion – which often seems like punishment – is repugnant to CMHC.

The South Camden LMAG has decided to meet quarterly in future and this will bring it into line with the meetings of the NCamden LMAG.  With the proposed new structures and the arrangement of services on a Borough Model with Borough Directors, there are questions about the future of the LMAGs and whether they will be superseded and replaced by a Borough Management Advisory Group (BMAG).

CMHC  OPEN  SUPPORT  GROUP

In January, the Open Support Group fell victim to the month’s disease and illness prevented Tony, its conductor, attending.  The OSG felt strong enough to continue in his absence and the session was held.  

We reopen this column with a piece from Patrick Dalton, CMHC Treasurer, with his  thoughts about the value of Day Centres following the recent suicide of a CMHC member.  Patrick is also a Board Member and Treasurer of New Directions Camden (NDC).

North Camden was the last of the four quadrants in Camden & Islington to develop a Crisis Response and Resolution Service.  The service began operation in the last months of 2002.  The January meeting of the NCUF brought along two members of the North Camden Crisis Team to talk about the service they provide; how it is developing and how it differs from the other services in the other quadrants.  One example of the difference is that unlike the other Teams, it does not have a dedicated consultant.  This makes a difference to the way it makes use of in-patient beds when it agrees that a patient needs to be admitted to hospital.  The Team is also keen to consider how service users – including people who have actually used the NCamden Crisis Service – may be involved in a Crisis Service Reference Group. 

One of the first tasks of CBUG will be an exercise in monitoring and evaluating this service.

The National Schizophrenia Fellowship is involved in a new development in helping service users into work – Social Firms.  The February NCUF on Tuesday, 5 February from 5.00 – 6.30 pm in Room 20, Psychotherapy Corridor, RFH, will have this as its subject.

Researchers at the BBC are looking at mental health services and people’s experience of them as the topic for a forthcoming programme.  They have been in contact with CMHC and we are in talks with them to see if they would like to attend the March meeting of the NCUF to hear the views of service users.  This is not a definite date yet, but we hope to have more information by the next mailout.  In April, we may be looking at the important-sounding field of ‘Clinical Governance’.

We are aware that the NCUF has looked at a number of topics since it started and we are always interested in hearing from people about topics which they would like to see us cover.  You can raise this at a meeting or contact CMHC direct.  The purpose of the Forum is to provide information and stimulate debate.

The North Camden User Forum is recognised as an important part of the user involvement network and it has been agreed to finance it for 2002/3.  This will now become part of the CMHC core funding and that means that the NCUF will continue for the foreseeable future.  This guaranteed funding also allows us think again about the Forum and what it should do.   

We have heard that the South Camden User Forum will continue to receive funding in the year 2002/3 and that this funding will now become a permanent part of the CMHC grant.  This means that the developments of this group in the past year are recognised and have made it a valued and valuable part of the user-involvement process.  In its document, Modernising Mental Health Services, there were proposals for two new services within the spectrum of mental health provision. 

The first, Crisis Response and Resolution Services, has tended to receive most of the coverage because they are at the most significant point of the problems and are expected to have an impact on the number of people who have to go into hospital for treatment.  South Camden now has a developing CRR Service which has its own Crisis Advisory Forum with several service users as members.  The purpose of the CAF is to monitor the development of the S. Camden service.  There is no doubt that the service seems to have achieved some success in treating people in their own homes and reducing the number of admissions to hospital.  In the past year, the South Camden User Forum has received several reports on the development of this service.

The second, Assertive Outreach Services, received a much more concerned response and was often seen as the precursor of a psychiatric police force attempting to ‘keep an eye’ on people the service thought needed watching and forcing medication on unwilling recipients.   The history of AO in Camden has not been an entirely happy one.  At first there were going to be services in both North and South Camden, but then it was decided that the job could be better done by a Camden-wide service. Michael Patchett manages the Assertive Outreach  service and he will be the speaker at the January meeting of the SCUF on Tuesday, 29 January at the new starting time of 5.00 pm.  

Camden Council has set up a scrutiny panel to look at all forms of tenancy support in the borough and make recommendations for improved service delivery.

Scrutiny panels offer a real chance for local people to be involved in the monitoring, evaluation and development of their services. The Tenancy Support Scrutiny Panel is very keen to hear from people who have used tenancy support services. The views of their carers are also most welcome.

We need to know whether tenancy support can be easily accessed by those who need it and whether it makes an impact on reducing homelessness and improving health and social care for users of the service. We are particularly concerned to hear from people who need, or have needed, our services but who either have not known about them, or have not been successful in obtaining the help that was necessary.  

Vulnerable Camden residents can be referred to tenancy support services to help enable them to remain in their own accommodation through regular visits, help with practical tasks, budgeting, access to training and employment, healthcare and local amenities.

The panel needs to examine what has worked well for users of tenancy support services as well as any areas where improvements must be made. To do this effectively we need people who have used the services to come and talk to us about their experiences and suggestions for change.

The panel is meeting during January and the early part of February and reporting to the Executive in March. If you’d like to be involved or simply want more information please contact:  

Fran Mason

Scrutiny Policy Team

Camden Town Hall

Judd Street

LONDON

WC1H 9JE

Telephone: 0207 974 3255