Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Birmingham And Solihull Mental Health Trust Nightmare Award For Subchievments

Healthschwitz



The Highly Prized Cartoonist Wahoo Kakatoo Nightmares Award 2007

Goes To Sue Turner CEO Of

Birmingham And Solihull Mental Health Trust


Yes in fantasy, fantasy mind you, and ward nightmares there's nothing like a set of stitchy witchy social images about performance, and quieted staff to make sure the chaos is unseen.

However brushing all that usual accurate analysis of NHS magic aside Wahoo Kakatoo with Xray toon powers has been looking inside the interiority of Patients and a few Staff er....Purely in fantasy ofcourse..

AND lo ! The Past , The Present and The Future were all there in " HEALTHSCHWITZ" .....

YES a concentration camp of existentially dismembered Service Users patrolled by Service Capo's without mouths, and shaped like strange "S"'s ....

Just remember this is all a terrible dream really...........

Monday, November 26, 2007

As The BSMHT Near-Foundation Trust Robs Money From Real Patient Choices So The MH Charities Are Now Into State Workarseing

Foundation Trust Demons In Hellth Oct 2007


So there you are 2 million saved in surpluses at the Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health Trust ..... Screw the real voice of choice of patients but never mind get the rest back to work ......

Bad old UserWatch UK also thieves the Telegraph's article below because the policy shit is hitting the fan in slow motion (predictably) and the Mental Health Charities though not named are involved in this new push to get the mentally ill back to work - BACK TO THE WORKARSES EVERYONE ..... !!!

" it might have been nice to have had some CHOICE of treatment first though "

say many ready to be broken on the Charity workarsed zeal-wheel


Gordon Brown to push unemployed into work



By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor

Last Updated: 8:26pm GMT 26/11/2007

People claiming benefits will be forced to undertake training to get them back to work under a package of sweeping welfare reforms unveiled by Gordon Brown this morning

(SEE TELEGRAPH READERS VIEWS HERE )

The Prime Minister said that private companies and charities would be offered new "incentives" for getting the long-term unemployed back to work and also pledged to close loopholes in the benefits system.


Gordon Brown addresses the CBI conference
Mr Brown said companies would be offered incentives for getting the unemployed back to work

Mr Brown's proposals came in a speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) as he sought to regain the political initiative following his mauling last week.

He also indicated to business leaders that the Government would push ahead with plans to expand Heathrow airport, build a new generation of nuclear power stations and streamline the planning system.

"Let us face facts – as a result of changes in the global economy, many of the jobs British workers do now are becoming redundant," Mr Brown said

"As we prepare and equip ourselves for the future, many of the policies of the past are out of date, with no answers to be found in old dogmas – and long-term reforms changing the role of education and welfare – the responsibilities of the individual and Government will have to intensify and be stepped up," he added.

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Peter Hain, the Work and Pensions Secretary, and John Denham, the Skills Secretary, later set out the details of the welfare overhaul.

Mr Hain said that those out of work and claiming benefits will be forced to undertake a "skills health check" to identify deficiencies in basic numeracy, literacy or language needs.

Those who need further training but refuse to undertake it will face cuts in benefits.

There will also be a major push to get lone parents and those claiming incapacity benefit back to work and changes to benefit rules to allow people to study without losing state handouts.

The Prime Minister said there would be an "intensification" of compulsion in the benefits system in future but also greater incentives for taking part.

However, the most controversial part of the package is expected to be plans to encourage the private sector and charities to run back-to-work programmes.

Firms succeeding in getting the long-term unemployed back into work will receive bonuses. The plans were immediately attacked by trade unions.

A spokeswoman for Unison said: "It is all very well for Gordon Brown to tell the bosses' union he is going to increase privatisation, but he must know that they are short on delivery and are only interested in lucrative contracts with no risks.

"Study after study shows that the private sector does not deliver good value for money and walks away from contracts when the going gets tough."


Politics: news, video, comment and analysis

Recent statistics have shown a fall in the number of British people in work and the country faces a growing problem with teenagers who are out of both work and education.

Mr Brown warned yesterday that Britain faced a growing skills shortage unless the problem is addressed urgently.

"Of today's six million unskilled workers, we will soon need only half a million – over five million fewer," he said.

"We have nine million highly-qualified workers in Britain, but the challenge of the next 10 years is that we will need 14 million – five million more."

Following recent disquiet about the scrapping of taper relief on capital gains tax, Mr Brown also used his appearance at the CBI conference to tell business leaders that he would continue to "listen and discuss" concerns about it.




Sunday, November 25, 2007

UserWatch MentalHealth Reporter Kakatoo On Dangerous Guardian Shark Mission

Guardian Networker shark



AND ......As Kissy Lips Ohara from the Society Guardian Smoked Salmon Pen closed down the vigorous mental health aqua-sports in her very bubbly Joe-cod blog area where fish fighting was starting over Jonathon Plaice's new fishy charity with ofcourse shadowy kung foo octopuses in the background , so brave Patrick Butler of the same diving school opened up a can of air elsewhere on another "Jo Public Blog" showing concern about Charities and their lack of accountability...Yahooooo Patrick flip that tail ... Er...Tale...

Mental Health Minnows UK who earlier bit the Guardian Jaws and who are now thinking of creating a new offishal social enterprise " RENT A MENTAL HEALTH MINNOW" swam in to comment in Patrick's pool about the greasy eel like behaviour of the UK mental health charities ...

See Patrick Butlers aqua offerings here if you missed them above

Naturally Kakatoo our artist-reporter even though ill from a bad dose of local NHS shark fin soup was sent in behind the coral crevices to sketch a picture of recent events where no photographer would dare to swim .. ...

Birmingham And Solihull Mental Health UserWatch recognises this feat and AWARDS the :

"WHO DARES TOONS" badge .....Bravery has to be recognised and shakingly wept over sometimes .......

We hope Kakatoo will be out of the wards very soon ...God Bless the UK and all who fail in her etccc.....

LINKS :

Silvisrivers NowPublic.com

Getting the measure Of Charities

Mandy's Lifeboat Blogspot


Thursday, November 22, 2007

NHS Surpluses Means Underspending On Patients Locally


UserWatch UK like others in the UK has had its suspicions confirmed today about large surpluses in the NHS - That is to say, the internally mad "profits" ( 1.8 billion) made from a lack of patient care in localities partly by new Labour's internally mad planning "Foundation prophets" who along with the Gov't just won't countenance taxing more or (more to the point in mental health particularly) de-bureaucratising the health service more. That might bring us line with a real caring society and more immediate delivery of care instead of a politically and socially contorted mangled Thatcherite hangover satisfying the internally right wing self interested "liberal" middle classes that NEW Labour now supports whole heartedly ..

At UserWatch in mental health we do see a place for the market but only on the basis that the patient drives this through State vouchers and allowances .. The quality driver of services in mental health as in other health zones beyond catastrophic crisis, must be the patient not the State, otherwise we get into this mismangularity of a political body tying itself up in social and financial knots and YES, without rope ......

Yes its all brilliant politics (not really) to balance out middle class income ( & income tax) interests in the UK and keep comfortable administrator class lives comfortable .. But we hear the skill of New labour contortions is making dancing yogic spaghetti gangs completely envious .....

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust made 2 million surplus this year we estimate. That is a lot of care MISSING..... Particularly if we kept it de-bureacratised and under REAL local control as opposed to over-merged corporate city-wide glossified performance-vision .

Local control is NOT happening - its another yogic contortion of social and political imagery ... Its called The Full Financial Bloatus with surprised little questionmarks hanging around it .... Don't worry we will see if an artist can rise to this amazing, acrazing, reality and capture it .....

NHS in surplus by £1.8bn

The NHS is set to underspend by £1.8bn or 2% of its budget for the current financial year, the Health Service Journal has calculated.

The figure is more than three times larger than the £510 million surplus in the last financial year, and in contrast to the deficit of £547 million in 2005-6.

The Department of Health said it would be retained by the NHS and spent on further improving services and patient care but the size of the underspend may embolden nurses calling for an above inflation pay rise.

The Health Service Journal reported that the surplus is made up of money "top sliced" by strategic health authorities (SHAs) from the budgets of primary care trusts.

The NHS deficits were politically embarrassing for the government and the then home secretary Patricia Hewitt said she would resign if the NHS wasn't in surplus by April of this year.

However the surplus shown by today's figures may be just as damaging. King's Fund chief economist John Appleby told the HSJ: "An underspend by that amount will be seen as just as bad as an overspend.

"Parliament does not approve of large NHS underspends as it commits those resources for health spending, not to just sit there."

Health minister Ben Bradshaw welcomed the underspend, saying "it is excellent news that the NHS continues to be in healthy surplus.

"This means more flexibility for health services and better care for patients. It will also make it easier for local health services to plan for the long term."

A department of health spokesperson added: "We set out in the summer projections that showed the NHS would deliver a surplus this year due to better financial rigour and transparency in the system.

"As a proportion of the NHS budget such a surplus would account for a relatively small amount and represents good financial planning.

"The NHS is getting more efficient generating a surplus while improving performance. It is much better to be in surplus than in deficit and gives individual trusts the flexibility to be able to accelerate their work in important areas such as 18 weeks and tackling healthcare associated infections, plan more effectively and deliver services to patients on a sustainable footing."

Hospital Doctor magazine also reports today that millions of pounds have been cut from NHS training budgets in the last two years.

It said SHAs took almost £360 million from last year's training budgets, more than double the amount the year before.

The figures, released by the department of health, showed that £357.5 million was taken from NHS education and training budgets for 2006-7, up from £150 million in 2005-6, the magazine reported.

The figures showed that London SHA took the most, diverting nearly £75 million of the multi-professional education and training levy allocated by the department of health last year.

The HSJ also reported that NHS trusts earned £98 million from car parking charges in 2005-6.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Guardian Unlimited UK Supports Timing Of Figma Drive



USER WATCH RIPORTS ....




In the interest of unfairness we distort on some distortions today in order to re-stort them properly ... There should be a word "RE-STORT" .... But that is for another campaign ....We know you are all clever ....ish ....You'll get the drift of where our re-balancing imbalanced unfairness lies ...Damn these paradoxes are everwhere nowadays ...

At UseWatch we have been watching the Rigma-Dance that the London-centric "movers and shakers", the twisters ....have been putting on. And watching the looping arms in the "you are in the loop" "Anti-Stigma-drive" two step, by the grant gobbling charities. The "Drive" is ofcourse an exagerrated outgrowth and twistedly skillful mis-use of the social and family taboo about being emotionally real in life.

Because lets face it , family life and social life is often neurotic, imbalanced unreal and shitty - especially in the UK, and moreso in its emotionally unkind class-riddled groups..

The problem is, "Anti Stigma" is warped now into the Charity and Govt constructed Work-Driven Mental Health NHS system that is going to get the "workless" on benefits back to work .. ...... What as ? Journalists ? Who knows...But the entry level bait was put out there and has hardly succeeded with many who were not middle class - those that had a bit of entry, got up the behind of NIMHE, only to fijnd later their behinds were got up by the DoH DWP vaseline band....

By avoiding the truer negotiation of supports , development grants, and the driver of vouchers of choice with real patients through a mechanism of real "Patient Choice" which never happened in mental health, the substitute became bureacracy and the growth of the Charitocracy through Sainsbury's Centre For Mental Health and all its networkers. They have been busily enaged in new social engineering enterprises which take away money from real patients and their right to evolve a culture and economy that suits their difference...

The show goes on and the ideology needs rebalancing quickly by good solid pisstaking at the strange and wonderful fairground mirrors that the Media pretends to present as straight reflection ..... The Guardian we think has been slipping in a bit of grease to the master plan of what is called welfare "reform" .... Ohhhh here's a little singy song film by an Ovalteeny before you read on ....


Find more videos like this on Mad Planet


Today Peter Hain rolls out more propaganda against old Tony's "workless class" and disabled. That eventually means stress and shit for a lot of folk with mental illness . The Guardian SUPPORTS the "Anti Stigma" drive back to work and by implication blames the attitudes of employers and others. Underlying though is the middle class angst about being emotionally honest in life while the provincial mentally ill are left in treatmentless community trenches ready to become new slaves of a rotten system that does not support them properly and gives them real choices .

Its the Middle Class NHS out there ... Saving money at local Trust levels by refusing full complements of staff and resources, and diverting it to show MONITOR (the Foundation Trust Watchdog) they are "financially healthy " to go into the Foundation Trust bids ... Make no mistake the surpluses in the MH NHS Trust are made on the back of under-servicing patients....

What we have is an angst ridden Middle Class, Top-Down ruling in Mental Health in the UK . Like the rest of the national life. The contradictions are typical because the Middle Class favour right wing economics for themselves unless it affects some of their public service inner colonial lives and they are "liberal" with social and planning issues so long as its outside of their areas and the impact is on others they can call racist or some other label which conceals that they themselves do not feel the direct impact of the policies of their high ground moral liberalisms.

The Third Sectorisation of the NHS and the welfare state is set to be the new socio-economic way the Middle Classes keep their privileges intact on the back of new social service lands to colonise.... They will succeed in creating more economic room for themselves with the pre-ponderance of them being in charge . That is happening in mental health.... Would "Patient Choice" at local level have been better ? Very possibly because where patients become drivers of their own care they lower crisis points and stabilise into User-led management ..SEE THE ROTHERAM DIRECT PAYMENTS FILM

However Direct Payments mechanisms have been suppressed by social workers and staff across the UK .... We wonder what class they were in .........?


Links To Kissy Lips Ohara

Here

Yeah and Here

Friday, November 16, 2007

What Chance A More Democratic Independent User's Voice If Staff Too Are Undemocratically Gob-Clamped?

Alison Dayani Reporter for Birmingham Evening Mail UK - ran with the story of public concern on Nov. 9th about staff getting fed up basically of being pushed around by the Trust chiefs..


Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health Trust is a worried Trust about truly independent voices because the underlying chaos and the mistakes it makes and the hidden health costs might just be seen more clearly . But its bid to become a Foundation Trust too means its got to look clean together with its large surpluses gained from staff shortages and deliberately reduced hourage here and there, with more working longer as a compensatory stop gap whilst rationed services exists in units without the right specialist staff .. Gob-clamping is nothing new though ...Its just part of big bureau politics rather than true local control ....Image is all ...

Clamping down, whilst looking slick, is what they know best at Birmingham And Solihull Mental Health Trust - Service Users have watched it for years. UserWatch is aware that Staff members have said to Service Users, that the Trust is insecure at the top and it took into itself the small voluntary body "Service User Voice" some time ago only to make of it a bureau- ritual where moans and groans appear to be heard but hardly ever form a real patient voice and serious action . Its a convenience for the Trust to flush a little and clean a bit........

We know the Government in mental health too did its fair share of undermining the authentic "User Voice" when it refused to give mental health patients the real choices of management and recovery based treatments they might be able to control better. In their minds despite the DWP work driven logic of the new figma-stigma drives which the Guardian supports too many Service Users are still "nutters" ... They cannot be trusted .... The sop then, that is coming down the line in the shape of some User-control (Individual budgets and purchasing power) will be fraught with restrictions and other ways to suppress most mental health patients being in control of their lives better . A few will get a good deal - yes partly the figma stigma promotion brigades. The many won't . But the few will be spun and spun into media golds........Shame there's a Internet now is'nt it ? And the ME in the "Media" is potentially here for many ... However we also found out the Trust have blocked staff from being able to read Blogs (Like UserWatch at work even in their own time ...Never mind they can read what they like at home .. What a tight arsed little Trust this is .... Hardly at home with real democracy.....

We bring you exclusively next (below) and within the context of ritually cleaned up voices, to the Birmingham And Solihull Mental Health Trust's reactions to Evening Mail's Reporter Alison Dayani's Nov 9th article . Simply put, Karen Martin Deputy Chief Executive of the Birmingham And Solihull Mental Health Trust wants to clamp down on the staff voices so they can be heard cleanly in the shared Trust bleached chamber pot ..... Oh isn't it all so UK middle class and tight and well regulated ? So lets have a look at what Karen BELOW put out to staff.



Karenski



"You may be aware that an article appeared in the Birmingham Evening Mail on Friday 9 November which referred to the implementation of new nurse shift patterns within the Trust.

Information within the article is alleged to have originated from members of staff and suggested that some staff were potentially considering some form of industrial action.

We were both invited by the newspaper to provide a response. Our responses subsequently appeared as part of the final article.

We are aware that some staff are not happy about the planned changes. At this stage therefore we are properly engaged in a formal process through the Trust's grievance procedure for dealing with the concerns submitted on behalf of staff. Individual staff members are also being encouraged to raise their concerns with their line managers.

We are both clear that the actions of some staff in speaking directly to the press, rather than use existing and agreed mechanisms for raising concerns, are extremely disappointing and unhelpful, and have done little to enhance the reputation of the Trust.

That aside we wish to make clear that these actions were without the prior knowledge, support or approval either of either Trust managers or Staff side representatives and as such cannot be condoned.

We remain committed, using existing processes and procedures, to dealing with the issues contained within the collective grievance and are confident that these can be resolved quickly, amicably and with minimum disruption to services and staff.

We would in the meantime encourage any member of staff who is unhappy with the planned arrangements to implement the new nurse shift patterns to discuss their concerns in the first instance with their line manager.

Karen Martin
Deputy Chief Executive

Alan Rollason
Staff Side Chair

12 November 2007"

...............................................................................................





Sunday, November 11, 2007

The 11th Day Of the 11th Month And Our Madness

Eleven Eleven Eleven  11th poppy 2




Made In Birmingham By A Mental Health User



Its a short film and a voice of poetry on UserWatch Birmingham UK , a token of memory and yet it moves the autumn leaves and walks the paths of some old places with ghosts in Birmingham that some of us can recall the shadows of.. Highcroft Mental Hospital housed people who were affected by the "Great War" - there were even signs left by those who were "mad" or made mad by the stoic and emotionally iron clad working classes whose suffering was a darkened place and rarely shared or spoke of .. Some of us remember them and remember how mental suffering was placed off limits by a culture that found it virtuous not to scream the pain it was in or was caused by its national "character" social habits and class conflicts ...

Iron jaws over hell was what some of recall and iron children. And encased post victorian affected people ... We remember the knock on effects of habitualising that personal suffering should not form tears but only some outer inner spaces where screams could not be heard .

Did we learn ? No.....We did not learn compassion enough but there again the mess of mass neurosis and societies that are inhumane and believe that humans are for dominating and using are all around us still .. We are them .. Is there hope ? ...Who knows .....?

See below the short film for a photo of a "mad" man's scrawling with a nail on the Highcroft Mental Hospital wall - some of which (we cannot show here) showed he had taken "The Kings shilling" and had probably fought in the Great War 1914 - 1918 .. He was on "K1" Ward which was knocked down in the days of the ambitious 2003 merger of the North Birmingham Mental Health Trust with the corporately slick South Birmingham Mental Health Trust .. The North has never been the same since that merger ......Our rearguard is perhaps our memory .....If we can grow wise and compassionately arted with it .....Shame about the current South and North merged Mental Health Trust of which 1500 staff are threatening to strike

Seems like the old days are back again of managers wanting some forms of Workarses ... Both staff and patients are being lined up and marched towards more cold hearted political bullshit...So much for winning wars when we often lose the human spirit ....




The Unknown Patient - The Wire Wall Writes .

Friday, November 02, 2007

Meanwhile In the United Bad Mind States



Film Made by A Birmingham Mental Health User - A true Bindian

Corporate global interests and the insanity of all of cultural practices is of course the extra hell setting for most poor extra marginalised folk who happen to be disabled of mind or emotions... The best part of it though is (at least partly) that States (including the UK) are like bad "States of Mind" that are unwilling to see what they do to others and how they create marginalisation and victimisation in others ... UserWatch will be back on this theme more locally soon after we digest the massive changes that are happening in the UK and local settings driven by financial bullshit and the preservation of anti patient choice bureaucracy. One thing is for sure the USA with its preference for system delivery of "behaviouristic" mechanical approaches has infected this country .. And boy did the charity-cavalries and David Freud's anti welfare approach charge in to scalp the wild living Bindians .... Yes there are still Bindians out there . They will be tamed though by work and Sigmund Freud's merchant banker descendent.


Its a venal"stalking cure" by the post victorian-shadowed rich middle classes favoured by the current politics we have ..What else was Tony Blair though but a shiny smile over victorian dark shadows of the "workarses" ....

.