Jun042011

Well the Government have finished their Listening Exercise on NHS Reforms but it’s all smoke and mirrors, because apart from a few tweeks I suspect they will do exactly what they want anyway.  It’s a great shame they didn’t bother to listen in the first place and consult more widely, instead of just being guided by the ‘usual suspects’ and bureaucrats.

Actually given the whole debacle, I am surprised that nobody’s head has rolled – but we can live in hope.  It must have been   six to eight months ago when I wrote in Mental Health Today expressing my concerns.  If somebody like me could see it coming, I am surprised that those supposedly far smarter people didn’t.

Talking of Mental Health Today, my latest article on the role of the big charities has just been published,  and should spark some debate.  I have long held the view that charities should be staffed by people who experience the problems the charity is involved in.  And in the case of mental health charities, where the majority of their funding comes from the statutory sector, you can’t help but question their independence, after all, they are hardly likely to bite the hand that feeds them.  I have talked to a great many people on this subject, and there is a widespread concern that the big charities are inadvertently threatening the very existence of the small front line service user run organisations, as they appear to have a disproportionate influence on the policy makers. 

It’s high time that the politicians understood the difference between big corporate service providing charities and front line user groups.  It’s just lazy consultation.  They either can’t be bothered, or just don’t want to hear what independent people unrestrained by political niceties have to say.

Tony Russell

http://breakthroughmhart.com/walk-in-my-shoes