Hounslow checks its mental health

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Health care reforms mean redundancies for staff

redundancy notices appear to have been issued to some staff at Chiswick Health Centre. I believe that this affects staff dealing with mental health and is to do with a change of "provider". Some of the staff affected have been serving local patients for as long as 15 years.

restructuring of counselling services. I understand that this is being done to provide a more equitable service across the whole borough, with consistently high standards, meeting the diverse needs of patients wherever they live.

Andrew Dakers (Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Brentford & Isleworth) today backed local GPs calls for questions to be answered on changes to counselling services in Hounslow. In a letter to the Chief Executives of West London Mental Health Trust and Hounslow PCT Andrew asked why GPs were left in the dark and a highly regarded service not given independent support in bidding for a new contract.

Andrew Dakers commented:
“I am very concerned to hear about the changes to counselling service provision here in Hounslow. Given the high regard in which the Brief Intervention and Counselling Service (BICS) was held it seems remarkable that the organisation is now closing down.”

“The Chief Executives of Hounslow PCT and West London Mental Health Trust must now explain how this situation came about and answer the substantial questions that local GPs and I have raised about the current situation.”

Campaigners have welcomed reports that the Government is set to abandon its Mental Health Bill, which would have extended powers to detain and forcibly treat people with personality disorders.

BBC Radio 4's Today programme reported that ministers had finally accepted after eight years that they could not get the legislation through Parliament.

The programme said the Government would still try to secure the main provisions of the Bill by amending other legislation.

Sophie Corlett, policy director of mental health charity Mind, welcomed the news that the Bill was to be dropped but expressed concern at what might follow.

She told the Today programme: "We are pleased that it will be axed. There are many problems with it. It does sweep up huge additional numbers of people under compulsory detention.

"We are extremely worried about what might replace it.

"This is all based on the assumption that people with mental health problems are dangerous to society and a second assumption that you can predict who those people are going to be, both of which assumptions are absolutely false.

"A very small minority of them are dangerous. The whole concept of this legislation is based on this myth."

The Bill was originally prompted by the conviction of Michael Stone for the brutal murders of Lin and Megan Russell. Stone was regarded as a dangerous psychopath but, because his condition was untreatable, he could not be held under existing mental health powers.

Ministers also needed to ensure that the mental health legislation complied with the Human Rights Act.

April 6, 2006