No Quibble

So the final piece of the legal jigsaw is in place (barring an unlikely rebellion in the National Assembly), namely the Code of Practice for Parts 2 and 3 of the Mental Health Measure. See all the details here.

The final version is a considerable improvement on the draft (which in fairness had much to recommend it). As well as a lot of tidying up and clarification the final version addresses the crucial need for clear timescales for the appointment of Care Coordinators (2 weeks) and completion of Care and Treatment Plans (6 weeks).

This was a great concern to Hafal's Members as we foresaw the spectre of Health Boards arguing that it was "reasonable" to take months to complete a Care Plan - and for all we knew a judge, asked to adjudicate if a patient challenged this in court, might have been bamboozled into agreeing with the bureaucrats.

Veteran Hafal activist Lee McCabe, with the support not just of Hafal but of the Mental Health Foundation and Bipolar UK, delivered a punchy campaign on this and related matters during the consultation on the Code and received huge support. It's to the credit of the Welsh Government that they listened and took action on timescales.

For clarity the timescales aren't absolute in the sense that the law is breached if ever the timescale isn't met (and we didn't argue for that) but the timescales have great meaning because, put simply, there needs to be a good reason for exceeding them. And a judge would use the timescales in the Code as the default position on what was reasonable. So woe betide LHBs which routinely exceed the timescales - that will be a breach of the law.

Lee and his supporters didn't get everything we asked for. In particular the Code isn't wholly emphatic about ensuring that Care Plans are truly holistic. The Code does require that the Plans are holistic but we would have liked to have seen crisp advice about what that means - specifically that the eight "life areas" in the Care Plan template are routinely or normally addressed in writing. But this isn't a lost cause. We need to ensure that the understanding of the word "holistic" is crystal clear in practice - so, for example, who could disagree that you can't really call a Care and Treatment Plan holistic if it fails to set out plans for such vital matters for a person in secondary mental health services as accommodation, social life, finances, etc?

So, let's not quibble but rather let's support both patients and practitioners to take mutual advantage from the new law by creating fantastic Care and Treatment Plans which deliver what patients need to achieve recovery and clarify who is doing what - because of course it isn't just for the Care Coordinator to deliver but for the patients themselves, their carers, and a range of other supporters within and beyond mental health services. There is great advantage to the Care Coordinator as well as the patient in formally enjoining that wider support rather than relying solely on the scant resources within secondary mental health services...

Razzamatazz

Compared with the exquisite excitement and relentless razzamatazz which surrounds our local council elections next week the French Presidential election a couple of days later (they vote on Sunday - these secular republicans have no truck with sabbatarian strictures) is a slight affair but for all that I quirkily find it interesting.

In the first eliminator round 1 in every 3 French citizens voted for the fascist or communist candidates, presumably out of nostalgia for the Vichy and Soviet dictatorships respectively, and now the remaining two candidates have to scrabble around to get these voters' support, not an edifying spectacle.

Everybody has written off President Nicolas Sarkozy but I'm not so sure and might put a bet on (if the odds are long enough) as I feel that he could yet steal it. The maths for me are that Sarko should keep his current 27% and add 12 of the quite-glamorous-but-fascist Marine le Pen's 18% (not all 18 because she's not backing him) plus half the centrist Bayrou's 10% plus half the remaining 12% making 50%. His socialist rival Francois Hollande will keep his 29% and take 10 of communist firebrand Melenchon's 11% plus half the centrist's 10% plus half the remaining 12%, also making 50%. BUT everybody agrees that the French vote "romantically" in the first round but in a cool, cautious and materialist bourgeois manner in the second, surely favouring the diminutive incumbent.

You may doubt me but let me remind you that Seabass was placed (third) in the Grand National as I tipped here.

You will also note that I have scrupulously avoided any stereotyping here ("Hollande hops into the lead" etc), more than can be said for former French Prime Minister Édith Cresson who famously opined that Englishmen are not interested in women and 25% of them are "tous homosexuels". She didn't explain what the remaining 75% were interested in - cricket perhaps?.

Incidentally Ms le Pen is no more ethnically French than the minorities which she and her nasty party beat up on. In fact she is (wait for it) Welsh - well, Breton but it's the same thing. She comes from Brittany and her name means "head" like in Welsh and presumably she, and her disagreeable holocaust-denying father, see their name as apposite because they both wanted to run France.


Stop Press: Ladbrokes are offering 4/1 on Sarko - not really long enough but still tempting...

Today Talbot Green Shopping Park, Tomorrow The World

Evidence of Hafal staff's infinite adaptability on this link. I see that Mark describes his position with us as "quite a serious job" - rather well put and I might borrow that myself.

If his modelling career takes off we would miss him but wish him well - we can't match the rewards available to the likes of Kate Moss or...actually I can't name a male model so, Mark, you are already the best known male fashion model as far as I am concerned and, I suspect, many of this Blog's readers.

And for those of you who are even more out of touch than me and think Kate Mosse is an author, yes she is (with an "e") but Kate Moss (without an "e") is a model who pioneered the "heroin chic" look a few years ago.

Voting Is Good For You

More about those local elections. There is a real worry that in these difficult economic times Councils might neglect people with a serious mental illness in the hope that the NHS will provide. That has always been a problem in some areas and in today's circumstances it is all the more important to hold Councils to account and make sure they serve the most vulnerable people in our communities. And there is no better opportunity to do that than at election time when the tables are turned and the candidates look for your support!

There are many decent men and women of all political parties and none already serving as Councillors or standing for election on 3 May but please don't be too deferential - press hard for their commitment to these priorities and indeed for any specific needs you perceive in your community...

1. We need a commitment from local councils to preserve and enhance services for those with the highest needs, including those with serious mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Local councils have a duty to focus their resources on the most vulnerable.

2. Social services need to play a full part in supporting people with a serious mental illness – in partnership with the NHS – by providing responsive services which empower people to live independent lives. Every social services department in every council needs to ensure that mental health services are well-resourced. Every department needs a strong lead for mental health to represent the interests of service users and carers at the heart of social care provision.

3. Local councils need to support the delivery of the new Mental Health Measure (Wales’ new mental health law). The new law gives secondary mental health service users in Wales the right to a care plan which set goals in all areas of life. Local councils can support service users by providing excellent services in these life areas – for example, they should provide a range of quality housing, education and leisure opportunities which are accessible to people with a mental illness.

4. Local councils need to support carers. They must provide carers with assessments of their needs and provide a range of support which meets those needs. Councils also need to ensure that when they implement the Carers Strategies (Wales) Measure, specialist information, guidance and support for carers of people with a mental illness is provided.

5. Local councils should promote choice. They should extend choice and control to mental health service users not only through direct payments but by providing a flexible and responsive approach to commissioning services on behalf of individual service users.

Hafal has a long track record of encouraging participation in elections not just because the results matter but because it's important for individuals to be a part of the decision-making in their community and country, not just the passive recipients of what our leaders choose to dish out to us. Fundamentally VOTING IS GOOD FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!

Lapdog

Apologies to regular readers for the long gap. Blame the mobile reception at the Travelodge in Colwyn Bay where the Orange toggle on the lapdog (as I call my portable pc) can only muster a 1990s-style "dial-up" speed which these days seems like the Golden Age of Steam.

I was up there to meet local managers and Trustees and to visit a new service in Wrexham - all very inspiring and a tribute to our staff and Members in North Wales. Also (tempting fate!) it is gratifying to note the friendly and efficient working relationship between our North Wales Office and Hafal's Head Office in Neath, not something you can take for granted and indeed all parties work hard to get this right.

While I'm up there we publish our local election Manifesto which sets out five priorities with which to badger candidates before the ballot on 3 May: take a look here and of course make sure you get out and vote Thursday week.

Driving home on Friday afternoon I repeat an occasional but longstanding ritual of this journey (25 years certainly since the first time) by stopping at the picnic site below the Sugarloaf south of Llanwrtyd Wells and walking to the top to look down on East Carmarthenshire. It's only a short climb as the road is very high up here so you get an impressive view for little effort (see above). You can see the Heart of Wales line snaking away on the right having just exited the tunnel under the mountain, the Wyddon tributary heading down the valley into the Towy, and the trunk road to the left also on a sharp descent.

Sunshine gives way suddenly to icy rain so I am instantly soaked and have to retreat quickly to the car. Back on the A483 I make my way home while blasting myself warm and dry with the heater on maximum temperature and fan settings.


Postscript:

Today on my walk I get up close to the landscape viewed at a distance on Friday...

Map, Compass And Kit Bag

Inspiring to hear that a group of intrepid mental health NHS staff from Cardiff and the Vale have kindly decided to raise money for Hafal by taking on the Three Peaks Challenge on 11 May – the same day that service users, carers and professionals will be scaling Pen y Fan, all as part of the Movin’ On Up campaign.

The Three Peaks challenge involves climbing the three highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales namely Ben Nevis (1,344m), Scaffell Pike (978m) and Snowdon (1,085m) all within 24 hours - a phenomenal 27 miles and 3000m of ascent.

Alison Carpenter from the Three Peaks team tells us: "The Three Peaks Challenge entails the added trials of sleeping on a minibus, coping with unpredictable weather/traffic conditions, cooking al fresco and trying to get along with work colleagues whilst spending 24 exhausting hours in each others’ company!

"We decided to raise money for Hafal because the organisation provides incredible opportunities for people to embrace their lives. Pardon the pun but organisations such as Hafal provide those who have experienced mental health difficulties with a kind of 'map, compass and kit bag' which provide direction and purpose; the end goal being a retrieval of health and wellbeing."

The Three Peaks climbers – Alison, Sam Brown, Rhiannon Davies, Maria Coombes, Justin Williams, Anthony Coombes, Steven Ford, Paul Emmerson, Julie Crutcher, Darren Stevens – have set up a JustGiving page for people who would like to sponsor their challenge. Go to their link here and pledge your support!

Action Fortnight

It's all happening this summer. As fast as we get going with Movin' On Up (about secondary mental health services - see my previous post) we are also strongly engaged with Time To Change Wales (our anti-discrimination campaign with Gofal and Mind Cymru), different partners and different issues at each end of the spectrum - and yet of course both crucially important and ultimately linked.

Hafal's particular role in Time To Change Wales over the next three years is to recruit and train users and carers to deliver the anti-discrimination message through formal training sessions and informally with all their contacts in the community. But we also want to join with our partners and others to celebrate the project and spread its message in an Action Fortnight from 21 May to 1 June.

Activities could include hosting an anti-stigma information stand or workshop at a busy community centre, shop or café, or something a bit more adventurous like a myth busting quiz, a storytelling event at a local library, an anti-stigma picnic, or a mental health flashmob - sounds fun! Do go to the website linked above and get involved...