mental health
Manchester NHS workers on strike
250 employees of Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust will take their first day´s strike today, Wednesday January 31st. This follows a 91.6% ballot result in favour of strike action.
The strike action will be taken by 250 community nurses, occupational therapists and team secretaries to stop the cuts in community mental health teams which include:
* reduction in staffing numbers in community mental health teams and consequent higher caseloads, and a reduction in service to keep people well
Mental health worker interview
Following reports that the mentally ill are being abandoned, Robert Allen interviewed Jim, a worker in the mental health system.
RA: The Healthcare commission are saying that mental health for over 65s virtually does not exist. Are you aware of this concern?
Jim: I used to work in a unit that worked exclusively with people over retirement age with mental health problems. I'm certainly not going to say it was a gold star service but "virtually does not exist" seems a little strong.
NHS cuts - mentally ill abandoned
As cuts to the National Health Service deepen, the mentally ill are being left to fend for themselves in what could be a crisis much worse than Margaret Thatcher's botched Care in the Community scheme*.
Reports are rampant that health authorities are making savage cuts to their psychiatric services, while a review of the NHS suggests that psychiatric care has never been more crucial to British society, especially to the over-65s.
