PPlog

Amongst the tumbling portals of the NHS and the scourging of vulnerable people by the ConDem government, today sees the publication of a strong campaigning tool for disabled people by the Health and Social Care Professions Council (the replacement for the General Social Care Council). The tool is the formal standards which, from August 1st this year, social workers have to follow to keep their registration to practice. These standards are far stricter than the Codes of Practice which were previously issued by the General Social Care Council and some local authorities will not be able to get away with the disgraceful levels of child and adult social care they have been practising (I am of the opinion that Norfolk County Council falls into this category). You will see these standards place the onus to conform squarely on the shoulders of the individual professional. So how, you may ask, can the employing authority be held accountable for the standards. The simple answer is they can...

Please see below the email from Rick Hennelly that shows he has considerable additional archives respecting Minstead Lodge. Best wishes, Andrew ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: "Hennelly,Rick (Adult Care)" To: "'studymore@studymore.org.uk'" , 'andrew roberts' Subject: RE: (Fwd) Minstead Lodge Meetings Date sent: Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:36:12 +0000 Hi Andrew, Finally got the time to have a look at this, sorry for the delay. I kept a folder from the early days. Some of the highlights are: A letter from Lorraine Bell to Chris Heginbothan at MIND dated 12.12.85 'on behalf of consumers and allies that met on 30.11.85- 1.12.85...after the Conference'. Presumably this was the MIND conference of that year. There is an appendix with a list of Groups and also a list of the individuals who were at the post-conference meeting (I was not at that meeting). 'SSO conference '86...

Government refuses to publish child health concerns over NHS reforms - Pulse YAH BOO Freedom of Information Act!

There are “serious weaknesses” in the child care system, the MPs announced this morning. They have noticed that taking a child into care and placing that child in a care home across the other side of the country is cause for concern. HAH! In 1968 - I made my first move into social work with a job as a ‘trainee child care worker’ at ‘Gwynfa Residential Clinic for Emotionally Disturbed Children’ in Colwyn Bay, north Wales. The Clinic accepted children of age range 4 to 16 years from all parts of the UK. The Clinic was not a private concern but was run partially by the North Wales Child Guidance Service and the North Wales hospital Denbigh (a psychiatric hospital). The senior staff in charge were Registered Mental Nurse qualified. One of the first things that struck me when I started the job was that one major reason the children were ‘emotionally disturbed’ was that they were away from home and in many cases, more than a hundred miles away from home - isolated, forcibly separated ...

Survivors History Group Meeting, Wednesday 30th May 2012. “Together” 12 Old Street London EC1V. Attending: Peter Barham (PB) Peter Campbell (PC) Andrew Roberts (AR) Ian Ray-Todd (IRT) Carole Murray (CM) Graham Estop (GE) Peter McGeary (taking notes). Apologies Claire, Eamer, David Kessel. Pre agenda: Peter Barham gave an account of his trip to scan archives at Craig Dunain, Inverness. This was the Highland district lunatic asylum, so probably covered a greater land area than most other asylums in the UK. Craig Dunain is quite notorious for the ways it treated patients, especially when it came to ECT. The hospital closed in 1999. Peter’s observation from the archive was how the Scottish approach to mental health seemed to have been more advanced in 19th C, compared to elsewhere in the UK. He also pointed out that a high incidence of mortality had occurred to arriving patients, due to exhaustion. Andrew drew a comparison with 1840’s record of Haydock lodge which had used ou...

Andrew has posted Peter Campbell's account of the meetings at Minstead Lodge in 1986 and 1987 that established Survivors Speak Out and preceded Edale. MINSTEAD LODGE MEETINGS In the first two years of Survivors Speak Out existence four meetings were held at Minstead Lodge, a retreat community in the New Forest. Approximately 20 people attended each meeting. Unfortunately no list of those who attended is currently available although some names are mentioned in the minutes upon which the account below is based. 24th to 26th January 1986 - The organisation of a conference was discussed. The object of a conference according to the minutes was “To promote awareness of our situation - the medicalisation of emotional of emotional distress, the need to replace the suppression of symptoms with support and care for emotional pain. We are not looking for sympathy but stressing the positive power gained from experience. In addition to show that people can survive without what has been ...

The Survivors History Group Manifestos (2005 and 2006) both speak of highlighting "the diversity and creativity of the service user/survivor contribution through personal accounts, writings, poetry, art, " [ETC] I am, therefore, circulating this call from the cartoonist "Brick" and Theo Stickley. Brick says "It´s no secret that Brick has had his problems with the insanity of the world, but his breakdowns were more like breakthroughs, lightbulb moments that revealed just how crazy it´s all become and how ill-equipped he was to cope. In his darkest days, certain things gave him hope (some of which are fictionalised in Depresso), not least the stories of fellow sufferers who survived the nightmare of the psychiatric system in the UK. To give something back, he is now co-editing a compilation book of graphic narratives designed to inspire. The invitation to contribute extends to anybody anywhere, regardless of artistic or literary credentials, so if you hav...