THANKS

CMHC would like to thank the following Charitable Trusts for their generous response to our appeal for funds to establish the post of Part-time Co-ordinator for CMHC/CBUG

The City Parochial Foundation which has made a grant of £27 000 over three years.

The Hampstead Wells and Campden Trust which has made us a donation of £3 000.

CMHC’s Trustees decided to try and establish the post of part-time Co-ordinator for a number of reasons.  One of them being that this was a wish expressed by CBUG members to have a dedicated worker to support that group.  The post has been costed at £27 000 per year over three years and it was intended to establish it by April 2005.  Although we have been successful in some of our applications for funding others have failed.  We are now in the position of having some money to establish this post but not enough to do so at the level that we think is needed.  This is a dilemma with which the Trustees are currently wrestling and although CMHC does have further funding applications outstanding, we must begin to question whether this post is one that we will be able to create or will we be in the difficult position of having to return the money?

THE GROVE  UNIT

CMHC has received the following information about the naming of the new mental health unit in the Nurses Tower at The Royal Free Hospital:

Names for the new unit have been submitted, following publicity, from both users and staff.  Many thanks to all who contributed their ideas and energy to this.

A panel of Penny Abraham (representing users of the service ), Dr Anne Bird and Colin Plant, advised by George Platts, considered the many different options, including Australian indigenous trees, aromatic oils, literary greats (including Morrisey of the Smiths!) and famous Camden people.  It was decided that local place names would be the winning option.

The name chosen for the new unit is the Grove Centre.  The three wards names proposed are Solent, Fleet and Heath .  All these names are local place names, with the Fleet being the name of a local underground river.

The March meeting of the North Camden User Forum decided to look at the Care Trust proposals for reducing the incidences of violence with dangerous weapons and the use of illicit drugs on inpatient wards.  This was predicted as being a lively meeting and it turned out to be just that.  Andy Smith, a former Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police, the Care Trust’s Criminal Justice Consultant came along to talk about the problem and some of the potential solutions which were being looked at by a reference group which included service users.

Among the issues raised were the possible use of metal detectors and breathalysers.  Service users expressed their concerns about the use of such devices and the effect that they would have on the inpatient environment.  There was also great concern about the use of random searches and the fact that they would be likely to be directed at a particular group.

This is a big topic and one of great concern to the service user.  It is to the credit of the Care Trust that it is currently having the debate.  It will be to its greater credit if the eventual response is one that does not make hospital wards seem like fortresses.

At its meeting from 5.00 – 6.30 pm on Tuesday, 5^th April in Room 20 on Level 2 at The Royal Free Hospital (near Psychiatry Out-patients) Mary O’Leary and her team from the Patients Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) will come along to talk about the work that they have been doing.  PALS has a good record for solving problems swiftly and painlessly. It will be interesting to see if their move from the St Pancras site to an office in Kentish Town has brought about any changes in the nature of their work and their relations with service users and the Care Trust.  This service has always made a point of relating to the wider service-user community through the North and South Camden User Forums and we are pleased to offer them that opportunity. 

One of the criticisms of in-patient care that seems to come up again and again is ‘nurses never talk to the patients’.  This is clearly an important point in terms of treatment regiemes and patient care and does not seem to have been addressed by the Care Trust.  In an attempt to obtain more detailed information on this point and in particular to try and ensure that the operational policy for the new Royal Free Unit addresses any deficiencies the May NCUF will look at ‘Nurses and Patients Taking’ when Roger Evans who is the Service Manager for the RFH in-patient wards and a nurse will come along with some other nurses to discuss this question and look for some solutions to the expressed problem.

Aidan Moloney is the Co-ordinator of Camden & Islington Providers’ Forum (CIPF).  We include 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 at cipf.office@virgin.net

Last June, the Black and Minority Ethnic Mental Health Strategy Group hosted a Community Engagement Event to ensure that BME service users were actively involved in the development of the BME mental health strategy for Camden and Islington.  This event stimulated very lively debate amongst the large audience that attended.

One year on, CIPF, in partnership with Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust, and our two local Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), is hosting another event to examine what impact the strategy has had during the past twelve months and to allow service users, their families and carers, and interested members of the local community to voice their opinions on the subject of the quality of mental health services on offer to those from BME communities and to look at some innovative projects that are currently in operation.  In this way, we hope also to promote the mental health of those service users who are involved, through the process of being consulted and included in decisions which affect them.  This event will be held on Thursday 7^th April from 6.00 – 8.30pm at the Resource Centre, Holloway Road, N7. 

A panel of invited speakers will represent service providers from the statutory and voluntary sectors along with users of local mental health services.  From Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust Erville Millar, Chief Executive and Hari Sewell, Director of Social Care and Substance Misuse, have confirmed their participation.  There will be an opportunity for attendees to meet local providers of mental health services and to discover the range of services they provide. 

We particularly welcome users of mental health services with views on culturally specific mental health services and how these can be developed.  Service providers are invited to set up an exhibition stand to display details of their services.  We welcome also representatives from BME communities who have no direct experience of using mental health services, but have an interest in their development.

This event will be held on Thursday 7^th April from 6.00 – 8.30pm at the Resource Centre, Holloway Road, N7.  If you wish to attend, please contact me on the above telephone number, email or postal address.

After long consideration the South Camden User Forum decided that falling attendance meant that it needed to change its format and if the people would not come to the Forum then the Forum must go to the people.

The SCUF on Tuesday, 22^nd March was held at Jules Thorn Day Unit and facilitated by Penny Abraham.  The attendance was good – twelve people came.  The debate was lively and a number of issues which were relevant to the audience and to Jules Thorn clients in particular came up, among which were:

BEST VALUE REVIEW – Jules Thorn Patients’ Council would like to be represented on the Implementation Steering Group.  They know their service best.

ASSESSMENTS – people felt that they needed more information about what will happen next and that there needed to be more recognition of the variable nature of mental ill-health.

CRISIS TEAM – some felt that this was a rather inflexible service.  There needs to be better coverage at night and the possibility of female only workers for some patients.

CRISIS HOUSE – it was felt that there should be more service users on the steering group to work up the operational policy etc

NO SMOKING POLICY- there should be more service users on the newly formed steering group.   Concern was expressed about how people would negotiate exemptions.  The no smoking policy needed to be linked to wider issues of health living – such as more exercise for patients in Day Hospitals.

These are all issues which CMHC will be following up and the format is one that we will be developing further over the coming months.

The SCUF from 5.00 – 6.40 pm on Tuesday, 25^th April at the St Pancras Conference Centre will bring along an old friend, Midge Clark, the Welfare Benefits adviser at The Peckwater Centre to give advice on Benefits.  Benefits are one of the most important issues to service users who often have no other source of income and regularly Midge has proved what a mine of information she is and has helped people with advice about benefits that they may not have known that they were entitled to, and in negotiating with the Department of Work and Pensions on the thorny issues of assessments and reviews.