Society Guardian Knights Sir Userwatch

Userwatch (Birmingham UK) is indebted to Phil Hoad of the Society Guardian who has run a story in Oct 18th 2006 about UK Mental Health Blogs which include this Blog

Here

Phil Hoad is right to show interest in the tide's begining because Service Users are not taking too much more of promises of better services that according to Prof Nick Bosanquet in his study

Here

Are not happening .

A lot of Users in the community are not getting therapeutic supports they need , core elements of MH services with a theme of custodial care have increased according to Nick Bosanquet and Userwatch adds that the new mental health bureacracies have not shifted the emphasis at all toward "Patient Choices" of treatments and supports to further patient independence in the community. If anything they have diverted useful money which could have actually done that ..

NIMHE alone has cost £65 million in 4 years of operation ..

A new song might go : "Where has all the treatment gone ? Bureau-bypassing ?"

Patient Choice of therapies is crucial for moving toward independence or better creative social contribution as is using patient purchasing power through (the currently impoverished and inaccessible for some ) Direct Payments method and new forms of GP commissioning which lead to a mixed economy approach . Even in Doncaster as Nick Bosanquet points out the CBT therapy pilot did not involve the private sector . Userwatch believes the State sector has to to quality-drive Patient Choice and weed out inadequate service in itself or otherts by patient-satisfaction data .

Userwatch also wishes to point out the Society Guardian missed a dynamic Blog story and evolution of the Surrey & Borders Partnership Campaign to re-instate payments of £3 a day for 179 Services Users which that Trust had taken away from them in a dubious overapplication of a "Pathways To Work" and "Externalisation of Services" ethos . The Campaign was successful.

The Blog link is Here

Finally struggles continue in Birmingham UK to get justice at Day Centres like Albert Rd that Userwatch is aware of have had services altered without lawful Section 11 (Health and Social Care Act 2001) . This matter is not concluded and Userwatch can report activists will hold the services to account (more on this later and see previous stories )

See also JARMI

And Aiden Shingler's campaign against psychiatric violations deserves another mention - Good Luck Aiden ! KISS IT