Earlier this week the Evening Post reported the welcome news that children with mental illnesses will shortly no longer be admitted into adult mental health wards in Prospect Park Hospital.
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had been widely criticised for the practice in the local media and by local campaigner Paul Farmer. Cllr Pete Ruhemann ex-Lead Member for Childrens Service also echoed concerns raised.
Last December, the Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny Panel which I Chair debated mental health care services in Reading. The fact this discussion took place we owe in large part to the sterling efforts of Mr Farmer (who if you don't know him has been a one-man lobby group for many years for better standards of care for people suffering from mental health problems).
in May 2008 and December that year I received countless letters from him demanding action. As a result I set up a meeting encouraging Paul to sit round the table with a number of senior officers from local health bodies. The result was a very interesting discussion, and I hope a bit of pressure for change.
At the December meeting of HHCC Panel, the issue of the 'appropriateness' of children being cared for in adult mental health wards came up, and there was a consensus amongst Members that the Trust needed to be moving far more swiftly, in conjunction with health bodies across the region (because the problem affects the entire Berkshire West area) to ensure that the right facilities are available for young people in crisis.
The last thing I wanted after we had this debate was simply for us to 'note' the report (what would be the point?), so I drafted a motion that was passed unanimously which said the following:
"This Scrutiny Panel requests officers of Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Berkshire West to respond in writing to Mr Farmer’s letter and produce an update report for a future Panel meeting (date to be agreed) on progress towards meeting the government's April 2010 target around admission of minors."
As the Post reported on Monday, as a result of changes in legislation ushered in by the new Mental Health Act, as of the end of last year, no under 16s are allowed to be cared for on adult wards at any time and under 18s are only allowed in exceptional circumstances. But from next year, admitting under 18s to adult wards will also be banned.
I have since discussed the issue with officers involved and have learned that as you would imagine there is still more work to be done to find a sustainable solution to treating young people in the appropriate setting, within Berkshire. The important thing is it is accepted that they way they were doing things just was not acceptable, in law.
Officers have also told me that they feel Scrutiny had a positive impact on moving the issue forward and that the update report we are due to receive in a few months report will help keep minds focused on getting the job done.
I am very grateful to Paul Farmer for first lobbying me about this issue, and also pleased that the Scrutiny Panel was able to add its collective voice to the local campaign to stop this deeply unsatisfactory way of looking after some of our most vulnerable young people.
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