Forum | Theresa May on Mental Health by Yaffle

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Theresa May on Mental Health 09:47 - Jun 7 with 1554 views

On a subject that is important to myself and many on here, I believe May is simply lying with her manifesto pledge on Mental Health services, there is no way what she is promising can be achieved. Since 2010 the number of Mental Health staff has reduced by 6,700 and most services are woefully understaffed http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39836506

She has been claiming since the turn of the year to recruit 10,000 more mental health professionals (whatever that means) by 2020, a net increase of 3,300 over the 10 year period, assuming of course that she manages to stem the mass exodus from the service. In this article http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/40169336/i-dont-like-liar-liar---five-thin this is quoted as 10k RMN's (nurses), not simply professionals. So aside from the fact that she has pledged to stop nursing bursaries which is already impacting on numbers applying to study (applications actually down by 23%), it takes a minimum of 3 years to train and qualify plus a preceptorship period to become able to operate safely at full capacity.

Also, bear in mind that for each student nurse you need trained and qualified nursing mentors for each student placement (which accounts for 50% of study). Nursing mentors typically do this for no additional remuneration and/or protected time, meaning that much of the admin is done in their own free time. Understandably, it's not as popular as it once was to be a mentor.

Finally, consider this. 2015 saw the lowest ever number of nurses qualifying, fewer nurses are coming to the UK to work from the EU and only 60% of newly trained nurses actually enter the NHS. Crisis, what crisis?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/25/number-of-mental-health-nurses-f
https://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/views-from-the-nhs-frontline/2016
https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/jul/16/mental-health-nur

This is the terrifying reality, it may never touch your life but I cannot vote with a clear conscience for any party who is promising to oversee the continued decimation of a service that is meant to be in place to protect some of the most vulnerable in our society.

on 09:54 - Jun 7 with 1532 views

Theresa May on Mental Health on 09:58 - Jun 7 with 1514 views

Swansea_Blue

One potential answer is to drastically cut the training required, such as the Met are now proposing to do with detectives. Then you can open up recruitment to a much wider pool of people. None of them qualified or experienced enough to do the job to the standards previously deemed to be required, but it's easier to hit your recruitment targets.

Another is to outsource to private deliverers, such as with the probation service. So it shifts the recruitment burden on to another for them to solve how they see fit. Ask those in the probation service how that has worked out in terms of quality of service delivery (hint - it's been a shambles by all accounts).

I suppose a third option is to carry on as they are and see the targets being missed by ever greater margins, as is happening now.

Now, we don't know which, if any, of these tactics will be employed because we haven't been given an explanation as to how these targets will be met or funded. So we can only guess based on their track record, which as you show hasn't been good.

Poll:

Do you think Pert is key to all of this?

Theresa May on Mental Health on 11:01 - Jun 7 with 1472 views

Basuco

Daughter worked in adult mental health for about 18 months and was reduced to tears several times by having huge pressure put on her to agree to sign patients off for discharge when they were not ready, due to pressure on beds. She stood her ground as any come back would have come straight to her. We heard many horror stories while she was there with dangerously low levels of staff and moral very low as well. One sad but funny thing I saw in Addenbrooke's hospital was a deaf old lady with dementia being asked by a Chinese nurse with poor English speaking skills "what you want dinner" the poor old dear just could not understand no matter how loud the nurse shouted "wha you wan dinner".

Theresa May on Mental Health on 11:52 - Jun 7 with 1439 views

Yaffle

Theresa May on Mental Health on 11:01 - Jun 7 by Basuco

Your daughter's point mirrors the experience of so many people I know, many of whom are leaving the service. However, you inadvertently raise another important point.

In the Mental Health field, communication and cultural understanding are arguably far more important than in general health nursing. RMN's brought in from other countries, simply do not have the cultural and contextual understanding or the means to communicate effectively that are critical to optimal assessment and care planning in mental health.

There are many brilliant nurses with their origins in either Eastern Europe or Africa but there are many that arrive for the first time to the UK with little or no understanding of our culture which can cause significant issues. Inserting a catheter is pretty universal. Being able to interpret whether someone is exhibiting signs of psychosis or if they have a disordered personality (very different things) requires a unique blend of skills, of which, communication and cultural context are key. Without radical intervention, mental health services will be in crisis for years to come.

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