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Member calls for action on mental health

Posted Fri 25th March 2011 at 11:36

Alderney States member Bill Walden is concerned that lives will be at risk unless mental health services across the Bailiwick are improved.

Mr Walden, who has been treated for mental health issues in the past, said he was well aware of the local service's shortcomings.

He also claimed people in Alderney were receiving a worse service than Guernsey residents.

Mr Walden said: "If nothing is done more people will continue to suffer, more people will fail to access the help they need and more people may die.

"As a former service user, I have had first-hand experience of local mental health services and I am well aware that there are inadequacies throughout the Bailiwick, not just in Alderney.

"That said, the provision of services to Alderney people is more inadequate than those provided to Guernsey residents, with some being difficult or impossible for Alderney people to access and others not provided in an appropriate form."

Mental health has been brought to the public's attention recently by local campaigner Claire Cotton. She spoke out following the death of postman Jamie Spandler, who was released from Guernsey's Castel Hospital just three days before he died.

Mr Walden said mental health is on the radar of Guernsey politicians.

"It is my understanding that Guernsey's Health Department is currently undertaking a review of mental health services. It is vital, following that review, that the service is improved across the board, both here and in Guernsey, and that a study of the Alderney-specific problems be undertaken to identify how these important services can be provided in an appropriate, accessible, confidential and cost-effective way."

Mr Walden said facilities at the Castel Hospital, which treats people suffering mental health issues, needed to be improved. Miss Cotton recently described the hospital as "useless".

Mr Walden said: "The Castel Hospital or, more specifically, Albecq Ward, which is the in-patient part of the hospital, is staffed by dedicated professionals who do the best they can within the constraints of the building, the resources available to them and the staffing levels they are given.

"I think Claire Cotton's description of the Castel as 'useless' is perhaps a little harsh but the hospital is a long way from being state-of-the-art."

Mr Walden said the range of illnesses being treated made it difficult for staff and patients.

"Albecq Ward houses both voluntary and involuntary patients. The patients can have problems ranging through a huge spectrum, including alcoholism, drug-related illnesses, depression, personality disorders, bipolar syndrome and many more. This can lead to difficulties for staff in maintaining a calm healing environment because the behaviour exhibited by some patients, due to their illnesses, can have a detrimental effect on others. Ideally, there should be more wards so that patients can be grouped appropriately."

Mr Walden said staff shortages also caused problems at the Castel.

"Under-staffing is a major problem, especially at weekends when there is only the bare minimum of staff-to-patient ratio. This leads to a lack of activities for long-term patients, which causes boredom and frustration and causes some patients, who have been making progress during the week, to slip backwards. There are no group sessions and little in the way of therapeutic input at weekends, though staff will try and hold one-to-one sessions if a patient is distressed, but even this is impossible at times due to staff numbers."

Mr Walden said he will work with local residents to improve services for mental health sufferers in Alderney.

"I am currently liaising with various non-States members in Alderney who are concerned about mental health issues and who have approached Dr Stephen Bridgman, the chief medical officer, with their concerns. I hope to be able to assist them in any way I can. I will not disclose the individuals' names as their contact with Dr Bridgman is at an early stage and a meeting is anticipated. I don't want to prejudice their dealings with him by going to the media about what might be discussed."

Mr Walden went on to praise Miss Cotton and said it wasn't clear how many people were suffering from mental health issues in Alderney.

"I applaud Claire's courage for speaking out and agree entirely with her comments that someone will die if mental heath provision for Alderney patients is not improved. I made similar remarks at the October 2010 States meeting, where the new Bailiwick mental health law was debated.

"It is a little known fact that one in four people will suffer some form of mental illness at some time in their life. Many won't realise they are ill and some of those who do know will suffer in silence rather than seek help, possibly because they are afraid they will be stigmatized.

"There is no way of knowing with any certainty how many people in Alderney have mental health problems but it is reasonable to assume that it is a considerable number."

A Health and Social Services Department spokesman said: "Due to its size and distance from Guernsey, it is not economically or practically viable for Alderney to have a resident mental health service.

"However, Alderney residents are able to access exactly the same service as Guernsey residents - albeit the logistics of travelling between the islands can cause difficulties on occasions. Because of this, Alderney residents have the additional resource that they are able to access telephone consultations, which are not available to Guernsey residents.

"The HSSD accepts that the standards of mental health care in the Bailiwick are not as good as we would like to provide.

"The Department also acknowledges that there are staffing issues - mainly due to recruitment and retention issues - which may compromise treatment programmes. However, it is vital to have well qualified and experienced staff in this area and the HSSD will not settle for 'second best' simply to achieve a 'quick fix'."

The spokesman said a mental health strategy was being developed and that full consideration would be given to people in Alderney.


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