APPENDIX 4
Memorandum by Hospitaller Order of Saint
John of God (MH 15)
MENTAL HEALTH
SERVICE REVIEW
We are an international charity working throughout
the world with people with mental health problems and disabilities
and we would ask the Committee to consider our opinion on mental
health service provision as part of its current investigation
into services.
I would particularly like to draw your attention
to our current experiences in providing supported housing services
in Enfield for people dealing with mental health problems. This,
we believe, encapsulates the situation experienced across many
areas of the country. Our experience to date should highlight
that, although a successful model for many people, supported housing
as a first step from hospital can prove to be a "step too
far" for some. Many referrals we receive are inappropriate
and for others who are housed and supported in this way the limited
support and isolation, as well as the fragmentation of other services
they receive, compound with their ill health and inevitably a
return to hospital is necessary.
In watching some people fail in supported housing
and in our assessment of the referrals to our services, we feel
that there is a large gap between living independently in the
community and hospitalisation. This is in terms of both higher
care residential accommodation and respite services for people
who temporarily require additional support, both medically and
therapeutically. The continued failure to provide a range of services
that provide a continuum of care and support exacerbates the vicious
cycle that many people suffer at the moment and this can lead
to the perceived failure of community care and similarly devastating
effects on individual lives.
In the current climate of improved risk management
and governance, we believe that such services would be a positive
step towards prevention and development and away from institutional
models and undue sanctions and that this should be seriously considered.
I realise that the Committee will have many
other submissions to study and therefore have kept this brief.
However, if you wish to discuss this further, please do not hesitate
to give me a call.
February 2000
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