“MANCHESTER USERS’ NETWORK”

Meeting

At

Harpurhey Wellbeing Centre.

(Formally Harpurhey Day Centre)

93,Church Lane, Harpurhey, Manchester M9 4BE.

Tuesday 21st February 2012, 11.00am.

Our Guest Speaker, Steve Cova.

Job Centre Plus, DWP.

Benefit

Changes!!

 Work Capability Assessment

Who will be assessed ?

Up date.

Big planned changes to,

(Disability Living Allowance DLA)!!

Service Users’(Patients) Carers, Care Coordinators, and other Stakeholders.

WELCOME.

“We need to support J

and help each other.”

Further information Tel Alan, (0161) 918 4343/( 0161)492 0790.

Revealed: New Report shows overwhelming opposition to coalition’s disability benefit reforms kept hidden by the government.

Boris Johnson Mayor of London

Conservative Mayor of London heavily critical of government’s plans for Disability Living Allowance

Report was entirely researched, written, funded and supported by disabled people.

A report published today (9 January) finds that Government misled MPs and Peers over the hostility to disability benefit reform. It finds that Parliament has been given only a partial view of the overwhelming opposition to the Coalition’s planned reforms of a key disability benefit, Disability Living Allowance (DLA). It finds that this opposition was previously not released to public scrutiny by the Government.

It is based on the responses to the government’s own consultation on its planned DLA reforms, which were only made public once disabled people requested them under the Freedom of Information Act. Findings included:

98 per cent of respondents objected to the qualifying period for benefits being raised from 3 months to 6 months

99 per cent of respondents objected to Disability Living Allowance no longer being used as a qualification for other benefits

92% opposed removing the lowest rate of support for disabled people

In all three cases, as well as many others, London’s Conservative Mayor, Boris Johnson also objected to the proposed changes. He said in his response

“The Mayor would call for the Government to retain the three-month qualifying period as the increase to six months will mean that people with fluctuating conditions have increased difficulty meeting the qualifying period. People with fluctuating conditions face the same barriers that all disabled face in relation to higher costs of living and DLA is essential to maintain a decent quality of life.”

“We would recommend that the passporting system remains the same as under DLA as it has worked well when signposting people to additional benefits to which they may be entitled.”

“The Mayor does not support this change, as those on the lower rate care component may have additional costs as a result of their impairment but may lose their access to this benefit as part of the proposed removal under the reforms.”

The Mayor also objected to the government’s strategy for clamping down on disability benefit fraud, arguing:

“The government proposes imposing penalties if disabled people do not inform the government in changes in their circumstances. However, the Department of Work and Pensions statistics give the overall fraud rate for Disability Living Allowance as being less than 0.5%. For those with fluctuating conditions asking them to report every change to their condition would prove very stressful.”

The Mayor’s views were representative of the overwhelming majority of responses to the Government’s consultation..

The new report, Responsible Reform, suggests that the government’s DLA consultation breached the government’s own code of practice and was “highly misleading”.

Researchers have used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain more than 500 responses to the consultation that were submitted by disabled people’s organisations, disability charities and other groups – including the response submitted by Boris Johnson – and have carried out the first detailed, independent analysis of those responses.

The analysis showed overwhelming opposition to replacing DLA with a new Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The government also plans to cut spending on DLA/PIP by 20%.

The new report has been researched, written and funded by sick and disabled people, thousands of whom contributed to the research through their use of social media.

Its authors now hope to use the report to persuade members of the House of Lords to back an adjournment debate calling for a pause of at least 6 months. In that time, plans for PIP should be reconsidered with the views of disabled people properly taken into account.

The report has already been backed by organisations and disability experts including

Disability Alliance Mind

Papworth Trust

Scope

Bert Massie CBE &

Ekklesia

Disability Alliance – “The Government’s mis-portrayal of the DLA consultation response is truly shocking and could represent a betrayal of the process of consultation and engagement with disabled people. The Government has refused to provide a justification for a 20% cut in DLA expenditure and we fear that the same faulty rationale, misunderstanding of disability and higher costs of living and poor judgement exposed in this report sadly underpin the basis of the entire reform plans.”

Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of the mental health charity Mind, said:

“The ‘Responsible Reform’ report is essential reading for everyone with an interest in Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reform including the Government and Department for Work and Pensions Select Committee. It is a vital contribution to the debate on reform and a huge achievement for the volunteers who have produced it.

“As well as forensically deconstructing many of the arguments offered by the Government for their proposed reform, the report shows that much of the rise in claimants over recent years has been down to better access to the benefit for people with mental health problems, whose needs are often fluctuating and invisible.

“Rather than getting out of control as the Government claims, DLA has been increasingly going to people who really need it. The proposed 20 per cent cut to the budget will have an enormous impact on many people with illnesses and disabilities, and we remain very concerned about the unintended consequences this could lead to.”

Papworth Trust supports this report’s concerns that the decision to reduce DLA by 20% may have been based on incomplete or misleading data about the reasons for growth in DLA. Our recent survey found that almost 9 out of 10 people would have to cut back on essentials such as food or being able to get out and about if their DLA payments were reduced or stopped under PIP. We believe that the proposed 20% cut will push more disabled people into poverty.

Given that this report was entirely researched, written, funded and supported by the people that these changes will affect, we believe that the questions it raises should be answered by the Government.

Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of disability charity Scope said:

“This report once again reveals the very real concerns disabled people have about the government’s reform of Disability Living Allowance.

“We know that this benefit is a lifeline for millions of people and families.

“It gives them the opportunity to meet the extra living costs they incur as a result of living with a condition or impairment and we know that people are genuinely worried about the impact these reforms will have on their quality of life.

“We urge the government to listen and act on these concerns and to ensure its replacement takes into consideration all the barriers disabled people face in everyday life so they can live independently and play an active role in their local community.”

Sir Bert Massie CBE said

“The Government’s proposed changes to the system of financial support for disabled people, from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment, has caused anxiety to many disabled people. I have always found the explanations offered by the Government to be unconvincing and I therefore welcome this report which analyses the evidence on which the decisions were based. It shows that rather than being broadly welcomed by disabled people and disability organisations the new proposals were subject to widespread criticism and alarm. I hope this report will result in the Government reviewing its proposals so they enhance rather than damage the lives of disabled people.

Simon Barrow, Co-Director of the beliefs and values thinktank Ekklesia, said :

“This is an excellent piece of research. There remains a gaping chasm between the government’s rhetoric about maintaining support for disabled people and the actual evidence about the impact of the changes and cuts it is imposing. The voices of those at the sharp end are not being listened to in a way that shapes policy. The concepts of justice dignity and social solidarity are being eroded and replaced with a piecemeal approach to provision which sees care as essentially voluntary.”

Sue Marsh, the disabled blogger and activist who led the research, alongside Dr Sarah J Campbell, said:

“For some years now, poorly designed Social Security reforms have created a “trust deficit” among disabled people towards government.

“We believe that reform must be measured, responsible and transparent, based on available evidence and designed with disabled people at the very heart of decision-making. Currently, we do not believe this to be the case.

“While disabled people welcome reform of DLA where it will simplify the system and better support their needs, they do not want a new benefit. They believe it is a costly irrelevance during a time of austerity.

“We urge members of the House of Lords – across party political boundaries – to take note of this research and the strength of opposition to the proposals. It is not too late for them to halt these deeply damaging reforms.”

Another contributor to the report, Kaliya Franklin, said :

“Cutting spending on DLA will increase the burden on local authorities, the NHS and community services at the very time they are seeking to find savings by reducing eligibility, particularly for social care support.

“Sick and disabled people have voluntarily combined our skills, experience and talent to produce this report, demonstrating that if we are able to work in the way our conditions demand we can participate in the world of employment, but only if it is willing to receive us on our terms, with more flexible ways of working and participating.”

Among the report’s conclusions:

Only 7% of organisations that took part in the consultation were fully in support of plans to replace DLA with PIP

There was overwhelming opposition in the consultation responses to nearly all of the government’s proposals for DLA reform

The government has consistently used inaccurate figures to exaggerate the rise in DLA claimants

The report shows that nearly all of the recent increase in working-age claimants of DLA has been associated with mental health conditions and learning difficulties. Between 2002 and 2010, the number of working-age DLA claimants – excluding those with mental health conditions and learning difficulties remained remarkably stable

98% of those who responded opposed plans to change the qualifying period for PIP from three months (as it is with DLA) to six months

90% opposed plans for a new assessment, which disabled people fear will be far too similar to the much-criticised work capability assessment used to test eligibility for employment and support allowance (ESA)

Respondents to the consultation repeatedly warned that the government’s plans could breach the Equality Act, the Human Rights Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Notes to editors:

The government’s response to the consultation on its DLA reforms was published in April 2011

Discussion of the Welfare Reform Bill is due to resume at its report stage on 11 January in the House of Lords

The report was written by Sue Marsh, the author of the blog Diary of a Benefit Scrounger, and Dr Sarah J Campbell

Employment and Support Allowance is the replacement for Incapacity Benefit, introduced by the Labour government in 2008

The research suggests that, although the number of people with mental health conditions claiming DLA has risen continuously over the last 15 years, only one in 100 working-age adults is claiming DLA in association with a mental health condition. This is far lower than estimates of the population prevalence of more severe mental health conditions. This is a global phenomenon and unlikely to be related to the design of the UK benefit system.

The research also suggests that the rise in the number of people with learning difficulties claiming DLA is likely to be due to earlier diagnosis of certain conditions

Boris Johnson’s full response to the consultation can be found here:

http://www.leftfootforward.org/images/2012/01/Mayoral-Submission.pdf

Students who have worked to improve the mental health and well-being of people studying at campuses including Manchester are set to be recognised for their achievements.

Hundreds of students who have participated in the 25by2012 campaign are due to attend a special event celebrating their achievements in Leeds on January 28.

The campaign, which was launched by not-for-profit organisation Mental Wealth UK, aims to make university campuses, healthier, happier places to live and study through student-led advocacy.

The campaign was launched in October last year after a report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists suggested that social changes such as the recession could have an impact on student mental health.

Following its launch, student advocacy groups were formed at universities including St Andrews, Southampton, Swansea, Sunderland, Cardiff, Sheffield, and Manchester, in a bid to tackle the growing issue.

Members of the groups which have made an outstanding contribution to improving mental health and well-being on campus will receive an award at the event sponsored by the Matthew Elvidge Trust, which aims to raise awareness of depression and train people to identify those at risk.

Edward Pinkney, who founded Mental Wealth UK, after launching a student well-being society at the University of Leeds in 2008, said: “More and more students are stepping forward to take leadership roles at their universities.

“The report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ highlights the threats to student mental health and well-being, and with university resources stretched, we believe that student-led initiatives are going to play an increasingly important role in tackling these challenges.”

Alongside the student-led groups the campaign has also been supported by Action for Happiness, Young Minds, and the £20m anti-stigma project, Time to Change, as well as dozens of universities.

For more information visit:-  www.mentalwealthuk.com/25by2012.

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2012, All Rights Reserved.

Exclusive by Deborah Linton of the Manchester Evening News.

The majority of prisoners at Styal women’s prison suffer from mental health problems

Four out of five prisoners at Styal women’s jail suffer from mental health problems, we can reveal today.

The figure emerged in a report drawn up after town hall councillors went on a fact-finding mission to the jail.

Some 80 per cent of inmates had at least one diagnosed mental health issue, while 70 per cent had two or more.

Despite that, the mental health unit at the over-stretched Cheshire prison had space for just ten women, the report found.

It also emerged that the jail’s 450 inmates required an average of 80,000 medical appointments every year.

Julie Marriott – northern service manager for the charity and campaign group Women in Prison, which work with Styal to provide support to inmates – said: “The underlying issue is that there are too many women in prison who do not need to be there. In my opinion Styal has been very forward-thinking in acknowledging this and bringing in a myriad of organisations to try and deal with it.”

The factfinding visit came as part of work being done by Manchester council’s citizenship and inclusion scrutiny committee, exploring the treatment of women in the Criminal Justice System.

Committee chair Brendon Jones said: “We were concerned about a number of issues but particularly the number of women being sentenced with mental health issues.

“What we are greatly concerned about is sentencing. I am writing on behalf of the city, as the chair, to the justice secretary raising generally the treatment of women within the Criminal Justice System.”

When contacted by us, the governor of Styal, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Department of Health all passed on responsibility for handling the matter.

The MoJ claimed it was a matter for the Department of Health, while the Department of Health claimed it was a matter for the Primary Care Trust for central and eastern Cheshire, who jointly commission healthcare for the prison with East Cheshire NHS Trust.

Neither trust returned our request for a statement.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We await the council committee’s letter.

“We are committed to tackling offending among women who are sentenced to custody and recognise the complex needs of women offenders, in particular their often long histories of abuse, mental health issues and substance misuse problems.

“Sentencing is a matter for independent judiciary, as only they have the full facts of a case before them.”

Styal was blasted in a report by HM Inspector of Prisons in 2009 for failing to meet challenges from a ‘complex and growing’ number of vulnerable inmates.

Prescriptions for drugs such as antidepressants and sleeping pills have jumped 20% in just three years, according to new figures.

Experts believe the stress of recent years, including that caused by economic turmoil, means more people are experiencing mental health problems.

Data from the NHS Information Centre shows antidepressant use alone rose 28% between 2007/08 and 2010/11 in England. Just under 34 million prescriptions were dispensed for antidepressants in 2007/08, rising to 43.4 million in 2010/11. The use of anti-anxiety drugs rose from just over six million to 6.5 million in the same period (an 8% jump), while prescriptions for sleeping pills rose 3% from around 9.9 million to 10.2 million.

Meanwhile, prescriptions for barbiturates, which promote sleep and reduce anxiety, have dropped 51% from just over 22,000 to just under 11,000. Across all these groups of drugs, there was a 20% rise in prescription items dispensed between 2007/08 and 2010/11.

The cost of the drugs to the NHS fell by 9% in the same period, from £329.9 million to £301.6 million. Antidepressants alone cost the NHS £264.5 million in 2007/08 and just under £235.4 million in 2010/11.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, said there were several factors that could lead to increased prescription figures. “The tough economic times may have contributed to more people experiencing depression but improved awareness around mental health problems may also mean more people are seeking help for their problems, with doctors also getting better at spotting symptoms,” he said.

“It’s important to remember that antidepressants can be a lifeline for some people which enable them to manage their mental health problems. It is worrying that antidepressants can be the first port of call for some doctors, despite the fact that ‘watchful waiting’ and talking therapies are recommended as the first line of treatment for mild to moderate depression.”

Mr Farmer said there was a a lack of access to talking treatments, such as counselling, in some parts of the country “which means doctors are left with little choice but to prescribe medication”. He added: “Last year Mind found that one in five people still have to wait over a year to access talking therapies.”

Depression is costing the country almost £11 billion a year in lost earnings, demands on the health service and in prescribing drugs to tackle the problem, according to The Independent. Research by the House of Commons found the cost to the NHS of treating the illness is put at more than £520 million a year. This figure is made up of £237 million for hospital care, £230 million for antidepressant drugs, £46 million for doctors’ time and £9 million for outpatients’ appointments.

It also said that people who are unable to work because of the illness lose £8.97 billion of potential earnings a year, while the loss of earnings from people who commit suicide is estimated to be a further £1.47 billion.

Copy of Press Association

Press Release.

Patients are asking “Is Park House like forced imprisonment for voluntary patients?”

Alan Hartman, who has used mental health services for over 41 years, says that the Trust is going backwards to the dark ages, and he remembers when mental patients were incarcerated in padded cells and put in strait-Jackets. This is a step in that direction and a throw-back to the bestial treatment of those days! 

Alan Shatsman, another patient, recalls the time when there were few rights for people like him, when he was admitted as a voluntary patient, but he was not allowed to have a special diet which suited his religious and cultural needs, causing him to shout and he was immediately sectioned, being unable to leave voluntarily, all because the ward was locked. 

Because of the curtailing of non-drug therapy services i.e. acupuncture therapy, art therapy, social therapy, industrial therapy and the horticultural centre etc., and patients being confined to a restricted area, there is likely to be an escalation of violence and limited freedom and less safety on the wards.  Consequently drugs are more likely to be used on patients, when other alternative psychological treatments could be used, without resorting to the further abuse of dangerous medication

If Manchester Users’ Network were allowed to be involved in the planning of this important issue, we would have recommended that there should be security checks at the reception where every ward would have a signing in and signing out register, a timetable for each patient, showing where the patients are and what they are doing.

It is essential that patients should have property checks, as this protects both staff and patients from liability. This is not happening! If ever these recommendations were taken seriously, patients would have more liberty, staff would have more time, and visitors would have more convenient access to the patients.

Clearly prisoners in jail, serving their time for criminal convictions, are much better off than innocent service users, using IN-PATIENT SERVICES IN PARK HOUSE HOSPITAL!

Contacts

Alan Hartman, Tel Mob 07719102380, Home (0161) 492 0790, Office (0161) 918 4343.

Alan Valentine (0161) 492 0945

Paul Reed Mob 07748115989.

Carol Connell (0161) 947 0952. (Chair) Greater Manchester Alcohol & Drugs Carers Focus Group.

Alan Shatsman (0161) 795 2214.

John Banks (0161) 740 1611.

The New Year coffee morning runs every Tuesday from 3rd January 2012. The event runs from 11am to 1pm at the Church of the Saviour, Eggington Street, Collyhurst Manchester M40 7RN.

For more information contact on Manchester Stop Smoking Service on 0161 205 5998 or go to

www.stopsmokingmanchester.co.uk.

For more details of Stop Smoking events across Manchester click here.

Taken From MMH&SCT Website at:- http://www.mhsc.nhs.uk/about-the-trust/news-and-events/stop-smoking-service-launch-regular-new-year-coffee-morning-in-collyhurst-.aspx

Pamela Welsh. MEN

December 01, 2011

Thousands of public sector workers took to picket lines across north Manchester as part of a massive day of action.

The city was at a standstill as council staff, teachers, job centre workers and hospital staff walked out over pensions.

Almost every school in north Manchester was closed for business, libraries remained shut and many leisure centres operated a skeleton service.

Job centre appointments and driving tests were cancelled, bin collections postponed and streets went unswept as workers protested about the plans.

Unions claim plans to increase their pension contributions and make them work longer are unfair.

Pat McDonagh, secretary of Manchester council’s Unison branch, said: “Workers have been targeted for attacks on our pensions to pay for the crisis of the banking sector.”

At North Manchester General Hospital, in Crumpsall, hundreds of striking workers lined Delauneys Road with banners and placards.

Dozens of cars honked their horns in solidarity with the staff, who say they will be ‘robbed’ of their pensions.

One of the women on the picket-line was 86-year-old Margaret Batton.

She was one of the first nurses to work for the newly-formed National Heath Service and was at Trafford General Hospital when Nye Bevan first launched the service.

Margaret said: “I’ve come out today because I’m sick about what the government is doing to the health service.

“They have left it in a mess and I felt I had to do something.”

Patients’ group Manchester Users Network also took flying pickets to many of the NHS sites affected by the walkouts.

Paul Reed, from the network, said: “The more cuts that the government impose, the less safe the NHS is.

“We want to protect the pensions of those who cater for patients with mental health needs. Cuts will lead to the loss of life.”

Some leisure centres were also affected by the pickets.

At North City Leisure Centre, in Harpurhey, seven staff from Unison and Unite walked out over the pension changes.

Many regular visitors to the swimming baths there refused to enter the premises in solidarity with the striking workers.

North City Library was closed as members of Unison picketed.

The college was also closed, with lecturers from UCU joining the main march in Manchester city centre.

Sure Start centres and many schools remained closed, although King David High School in Crumpsall used sixth form students to replace striking teachers for taking the registration.

Road sweepers and council staff from both GMB and Unite unions also went out.

David Carden, who lives in Moston and has been a street cleaner for 15 years, said: “Our pensions are not gold-plated.

“We are ordinary people and we are being robbed.”

Manchester Evening News link :- http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1466701_thousands-in-north-manchester-join-public-sector-strikes

Psychiatrist calls for lithium to be added to water

GORDON DEEGAN

A consultant psychiatrist last night called on Government to add lithium salts to the public water supply in a bid to lower the suicide rate and depression among the general population.

At a mental health forum on “Depression in Rural Ireland” in Ennistymon, Co Clare, Dr Moosajee Bhamjee said that “there is growing scientific evidence that adding trace amounts of the drug lithium to a water supply can lower rates of suicide and depression”.

Lithium is used by doctors as a mood stabiliser in the treatment for depression.

Dr Bhamjee said: “A recent article in the British Journal of Psychiatry found the beneficial uses of lithium when it was added to the water supply in parts of Texas.”

He said the Government should consider a pilot project for a town in Ireland where lithium salts could be added to the water in very small doses and examine the results.” He said there was already strong precedent for governments intervening in the operation of public water supply for health benefits by adding fluoride

Dr Bhamjee said that a community would not get “hooked” on lithium “because the doses would be so small”.

He said: “There are 200,000 people suffering from depression in Ireland and the Government must think of new ways of tackling the problem.”

Fine Gael TD and chairman of the Irish Association of Suicidology, Dan Neville, told the forum the average annual suicide rate in Ireland in the 1960s was 64-65.

He said: “Last year, 483 people died by suicide and if you add the 123 undetermined deaths, the suicide number is over 600.”

He said: “This compares to 212 who died by road accidents, which is itself unacceptable.

“Research shows during international recessions, the suicide rate increases by 25 per cent. Ireland has the fourth highest youth suicide rate in Europe.”

Mr Neville added: “Suicide is the most common death for 15 to 24-year-olds and accounts for more than those who die from cancer and road accidents combined.”

The Limerick West deputy said that the attitude in mental health service towards those with mental health problems should be recovery and not containment.

He said: “Early intervention, you have 90 per cent cure and late intervention you have difficulties for life.”

Mr Neville said that with the well-publicised suicide of footballer Gary Speed, it raised contagion or copycat suicide concerns.

“GATHERING STORM” Part 3 “Scarlet & True” Tuesday 6^th December 2011 at 11am- 3pm on Old Church Street Newton Heath Manchester. Save Edale Hospital Unit and Stop The Massive Life Threatening Cuts to Manchester Mental Health Services.

STOP RIGHT NOW THE 25% CUTS IN MANCHESTER MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR MP TO ASK THEM TO SUPPORT TONY LLOYD MP IN HELPING HIM TO STOP THE CLOSURE OF EDALE HOSPITAL UNIT. MANCHESTER USERS NETWORK, SAY NO TO CLOSING EDALE. A PUBLIC MEETING WILL BE HELD AT THE METHODIST HALL OLDHAM STREET, MANCHESTER ON WEDNESDAY, 07 TH, DECEMBER, 2011 at 6PM SPEAKER:- KAREN REISSMANN , UNISON NATIONAL EXECUTIVE. YOUR CHANCE TO TELL THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO CLOSE EDALE AND STOP THE 46 JOB LOSSES, PART OF MMH&SCT CUTS OF 25%

For all Information call Tel: 07552094184 0r the Offices of the MUN 0161-918-4343

Follow Manchester Users Network on Twitter @ MunReporter  

Make a donation to help support the work of Manchester Users Network at: Royal Bank Scotland, Manchester, St Ann Street Office, and St Ann Street, Manchester, M60 2SS.  Account: Sort Code 16-00-02 Account number: 21051092