Monthly Newsletter of Camden Mental Health Consortium |
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ISSUE 89 |
January 2005 |
It is concerning to see that the Highgate Mental Health Centre will no longer be able to support a women-only ward. The pressures on the service and the high number of male admissions will no longer sustain this position, which is in keeping with the national guidance. The language which indicates that this will still be a ‘Women’s Lead Ward’ seems to be trying to meet the detail of the Government’s requirements without honouring the spirit of them. A great deal of work has gone into the Care Trust’s Women’s Strategy and it would seem that it is already beginning to unpick. Once again, it is the financial pressures on the CT and the fact that male patients have had to be sent to the private sector with all the costs involved which have given rise to this backward move.
THE BENEFITS It is good news that the Care Trust has not decided to impose on service users that payments for user-involvement tasks must be made into bank accounts. For all-too-many users of the mental-health services the level of benefit they receive is important to their well-being and the stress that is caused by the possibility that it will be lowered is a constant one, particularly in the present political climate. To add to this the possibility that they may be investigated for payments that they are receiving for work that they may undertake is likely to lead to a reduction in the number of people who are prepared to be involved. Whatever it may have renamed itself the Department of Work & Pensions is not known for its benevolence and service users are justifiably wary about taking any steps which may lead that Department to investigate their benefit position or reappraise their fitness for work.
DISCO/ PARTY 2005 started in much the same way as very other year does, with lots of letters and bills to deal with. To try and reduce some of the post-Christmas period, CMHC held a Disco and Party at The London Irish Centre on Friday, 14th January. This was another successful event with Hugh Sturrock acting as DJ. It is hoped that CMHC will hold another Disco/Party in May. CMHC also intends to hold a BarBQ in the Summer.
NEWS FROM THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR Aidan Moloney is the Co-ordinator of Camden & Islington Providers’ Forum (CIPF). In future we will be including regular monthly contributions from Aidan telling people what is happening in the voluntary sector. Aidan can be contacted by post at Camden & Islington Providers’ Forum, St James’s House, 15-20 Bruges Place, Baynes Street, London, NW1 0TF; by ‘phone on 020 7428 5999, and by e-mail cipf.office@virgin.net Many of you will know of CIPF’s commitment to fostering partnership in the delivery of mental health services. Therefore, the development and delivery of a new service for people with personality disorder is particularly welcome. The Mental Health and Social Care Trust, in collaboration with the voluntary sector, in particular, Umbrella, has been successful in securing National Development Programme funds to set up a new community based personality disorder service. The key aims of the service will be to develop staff skills and capacity in primary care and the voluntary sector to provide support to people with personality disorders, and to improve their access to interventions in primary care, social care and the voluntary sector. It will operate at a number of levels: To develop skills training, employment and other structured activities for people with personality disorder. This aspect will be led by Umbrella working with statutory and voluntary sector referrers with input from IBUG and CBUG in development of the Service. The aim is that by promoting interventions focusing on skills acquisition, employment and related activity, this may contribute to a reduced need for specialist interventions for PD clients from secondary care services. Such services offer alternative routes – in particular for younger people with a range of personality problems - to develop the necessary skills which may significantly contribute to a reduced likelihood of their social isolation and dependence on mental health services or other aspects of the care system. To support those voluntary sector agencies working with people with PD. A specific post has been recruited to in the Trust to work with the voluntary sector to address the issues particular organisations face at an operational/ day to day level in coping with and supporting people with PD’s. I was pleased to meet with Jina Barrett recently, who has been appointed to take on this work. In addition, the Trust’s Oscar Hill Service will be enhancing its clinical engagement with clients of both Umbrella and other specialist voluntary sector services in community settings. Camden Mental Health Consortium had specific involvement in supporting the proposal to secure funding for this initiative and was one of the joint applicants. CMHC will be a key member of the future steering group and will therefore have significant involvement in the project. And now to a separate issue. Following ten years of tremendous work in developing Camden and Islington Mental Health Day Fair, I am sorry to say that Tulloch Kempe has decided to hand over the co-ordinating reins. Tulloch has been tireless in setting up this unique annual event promoting mental health awareness in the community. His great artistic and organisational abilities along with his personality have ensured the yearly success of the fair in attracting service users, providers, dignitaries and personalities. The Camden and Islington partnership wishes to thank Tulloch, on behalf of all our colleagues, for his great efforts over the past ten years. We are pleased Tulloch will continue to lend his skills to this event as part of the organising committee.
Tom Bilton reports the January North Camden User Forum. The meeting of the North Camden User Forum on Tuesday 4th January was Chaired by Penny Abraham, and heard from TraceyAnne Munn, Colin Plant and George Platts, who were talking about the new build project on the old Felix Brown site. This building will house three inpatient psychiatric wards which will replace the current wards on the 2nd floor. George had a list of aims the trust hope to achieve when the service moves to the new site. These were promoting well-being and good general health; recognising diversity; maintaining valued social roles; person-centred care planning. It is hoped that along with the new building there will be a change in the culture of the service, in response to criticisms of the current experience of being an inpatient. There was a display of photographs, plans, and interior decorating schemes for us to look at. The design of the building is hoped to make improvements to the service more possible; each patient will have a room with ensuite shower, the nurses’ station will be next to the front door to allow easier access, and on the two wards which will be for both men and women it will be possible to regulate access to the women’s area, which will have its own lounge. There will be improved occupational therapy facilities, situated on the wards, possibly including computers. The Trust is keen to consult service users on the decisions made about the new service, including whether to keep the names of the wards (Alice, Nicol, and Helen Boyle) or to change them, and TraceyAnne has offered to take people on a tour of the building when it is nearer completion. Service users raised a number of points, including access to outdoor space, ventilation and other environmental issues. Also concerns about the policy on smoking were discussed at length. Access to the new building was an issue; it is hoped that pedestrian access will be via a new Lawn Road entrance, or from the staff car park where there is a pavement, rather than along the hospital service road from Fleet Road. Access to telephones, television and radio were discussed. The Trust is in negotiation with Patient-Line, who provides these on a pay-as-you-go basis for the general wards, however not all the obstacles to this have been overcome. It was pointed out that inpatients living on the hospital allowance of income support (around £17 a week) may not be able to afford this service, but it was felt that patients should have adequate access to telephones, whatever their income.
George Platts, Assistant Director of Mental Health Services, writes about the new Nurses’ Tower Development, and the opportunity for service users to have an input into the naming of the new new unit and its wards.
A new mental health unit is being built on the Royal Free site. It will contain 44 bedrooms in two 16-bedded wards and one twelve-bedded ward. All the bedrooms are single and have en-suite shower rooms. They are a big improvement on current accommodation in dormitories with shared bathroom/toilets.
There will be an adapted en-suite bedroom on each ward for users with physical disabilities. Each bedroom will have a window to allow access to natural light. The new unit as a whole will have improved access to light and ventilation. Each ward will have a semi-open terrace, and access to a courtyard garden.
The twelve-bedded ward is intended to re-provide the current all-women ward - Helen Boyle Unit. The 16-bedded wards will be mixed but with female only areas.
Service users will have improved access to therapies in the new unit. Currently, the Occupational Therapy Dept. is separate from the wards in the Royal Free, and detained patients have to be given leave to attend. The wards in the new unit include therapy rooms for painting and pottery, ICT, physical fitness and groups.
The building is going to schedule, with completion planned for May 2005, and occupation by the Care Trust later that year. At the moment the shell of the building is almost complete - windows have been installed and the external brickwork is finished. Internal walls, glazing and plastering is underway. We hope to have a mock-up of one of the single rooms for staff and users to view in March.
Naming the Unit
We would like to invite suggestions for the names of both the unit as a whole and the two mixed wards. We are offering a “mystery prize” for suggestions which we adopt.
If you would like to make a suggestion:
please forward your idea by 15th February to George Platts on 020 7941 1600, or by e-mail to: george.platts@camden.gov.uk
As this month’s Camden Bugle was being prepared the January South Camden User Forum was hearing from Dr Sushrut Jadhav & Victoria Manzini about some of the interesting work that they have been doing with patients in The Mornington Unit – the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at The Huntley Centre. There will be a fuller report on this meeting in the February issue of The Camden Bugle. For some time CMHC has been aware of the differences and difficulties of obtaining effective user involvement in South Camden. The profile of the users of the mental health services in the South of the Borough is very different from that in the North – there are many more homeless people and people living in temporary accommodation or hostels. CMHC wants to try and engage more of these people and the SCUF meeting from 5.00 – 6.30 pm on Tuesday, 22nd February, in The Conference Centre at St Pancras Hospital will have as its theme ‘What Should We Do About User Involvement in South Camden’. Anyone with any thoughts is very welcome to come along and share them with us. We hope that there will be lots of new ideas for CMHC to work with during 2005.
Robert Jones, the Social Care & Inclusion Development Manager, provides a review of the month’s events within Camden & Islington Mental Health & Social Care Trust. Robert can be contacted at Care Trust Headquarters, 2nd floor, East Wing, St Pancras Hospital, London NW1 OPE, by telephone on 020 7445 8554 or by e-mail robert.jones@candi.nhs.uk
Service User Payments The Care Trust recently introduced a participation agreement and a direct payment system so that service user who wishes to be actively involved in supporting the Care Trust on committees, interview panels, work placements etc. may have a clear agreement covering their involvement and that the payments for such involvement can be made directly to the individual’s bank account. For some service users this approach has been welcomed. However, other service users view this as the Care Trust protecting itself by putting service users who are on benefit at risk. As a consequence of these concerns, the Care Trust has decided not to make this system obligatory at the present time. Instead, the Care Trust will liaise with service users and specialists in the area of benefits to make sure that the new system will not place any service users at risk. The Care Trust will also meet with service users over the coming months to discuss any issues and concerns that they may have with new system. We sincerely hope that people will be reassured by this approach and recognise that the protection of service users is of paramount importance to the Care Trust.
Service User Consultative Forum The next Service User Consultation Forum is on Friday, 28th January 2 pm – 5 pm, 2nd floor meeting room at St Pancras Hospital. The Consultation Forum meets six times a year and provides an opportunity for people who have used mental health services to talk directly to Directors and Senior Managers of the Care Trust. For more information contact Ros Lettman on 020-7530-3340
Service User Survey The Care Trust is carrying out a survey to find out what service users think about the care they receive. The results will be used to help the Care Trust highlight areas where it has performed well and to identify the areas where there is room for improvement. A random sample of 850 service users between 16 and 64 who are on a Care Programme Approach (CPA) will be sent the survey which will ask about various aspects of their experiences including their care plan, care and treatment, the support they are given within the community and crisis care as well as their relationship with health care professionals. If you receive a copy of the survey and would like support in completing it, the Care Trust has identified a number of service users who could help. For more information contact Ros lettman on 020-7530-3340
Mental Health and Ethnicity Census - 31st March 2005 The Mental Heath Act Commission is to conduct the first ever National Mental Health Ethnicity survey of all in-patients in mental health services across the Country. The survey will be repeated every year and will provide the department of health with details of the ethnicity, language, faith and status of all in-patients. This information is required as part of the overall drive to improve mental health services across the Country and address issues of inequalities. Although the Care Trust collects most of this information already we welcome the survey and will be working with service users to make sure that the survey is effective and that it leads to real change. For more information contact Robert Jones on 020-7445-8554
Exhibition of Paintings Paintings by Alan Cooper and photographs by Anne Huhn will be on view at Highgate Mental Health Centre, Dartmouth Park Hill, N19 from the 30th January 2005.
Theatre Cardboard Citizens will be performing their latest production “The Wall” At LAMBO Centre, 48 Despard Road, N19 on February 8th at 2.45pm. To confirm your place ring Justin on 020-7247-7747
Training for Service Users The Recruitment and Selection training event for any service user who is interested in this area of work will be on the 25th February 2005. For more details contact Ros on 020-7530-3340
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