Wessely on air at BBC 4 Radio

[TiredSam]

Wessely has been so successful at psychologising ME, lining his own pockets and furthering his own career whilst saving the government a fortune, that the psychologisation of physical illness and patient-blaming is now being rolled out for everyone. Let's get 'em young and set up a school to CBT pipeline.

I wondered when he was elected president of the Royal Society of Medicine whether there may be some grand new scheme coming along with him in a starring role.

And all under the guise of helping those with mental health needs. Those with real needs will now see their much-needed resources diluted to cope with an influx of children sent for therapy because they complained of having a headache, or yawned, or gave the dinner lady a funny look.

Why don't they just criminalize illness and have done with it?

 

[Large Donner]

Why don't they just criminalize illness and have done with it?

I think they already have they are now working on criminalizing non illness.

Those with real needs will now see their much-needed resources diluted to cope with an influx of children sent for therapy because they complained of having a headache, or yawned, or gave the dinner lady a funny look.

Remember also this is all going to be done using citizen spies on children in schools from the age of four. This is the public working for the state rather than the state working for the public.

We already know how they will marginalize those who speak out against it, they will get called militants and terrorists and be passed of as a small vocal minority.

Well at least it will keep the BBC occupied for the next 50 years churning out unquestioning state propaganda in the name of journalism.

 

[alex3619]

This is the public working for the state rather than the state working for the public.

Forget Reds Under The Bed, it will be The Sick Under The Bed.

I do hope governments wise up and track objective outcomes. Alas, Pie In The Sky is the promise of governments everywhere.

Nobody is doubting there are many with genuine needs, including psychiatric needs, who are not adequately helped. This also applies to physical illness. The problem is that, unlike ME which has abundant evidence of pathophysiology, we have no scientifically validated evidence for nearly all psychiatric diagnoses (though there is evidence for some subgroups). Most of the patients with such diagnoses have real and unmet needs, but we cannot address those needs until we figure out what is actually wrong.

 

[Dx Revision Watch]

Background to government's response:

[PDF, 272KB, 29 pages]

The government’s response to the work of the Mental Health Taskforce and the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health report

January 9, 2017


https://www.england.nhs.uk/mentalhealth/taskforce/

Formed in March 2015, the independent Mental Health Taskforce brought together health and care leaders, people who use services and experts in the field to create a [PDF] Five Year Forward View for Mental Health for the NHS in England.

This national strategy, which covers care and support for all ages, was published in February 2016 and signifies the first time there has been a strategic approach to improving mental health outcomes across the health and care system, in partnership with the health arm’s length bodies.

In July 2016, NHS England published an [PDF] Implementation Plan to set out the actions required to deliver the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. The Implementation Plan brings together all the health delivery partners to ensure there is cross-system working to meet the recommendations made by the Taskforce.

The taskforce was chaired by Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind, and the vice chair was Jacqui Dyer who is an expert-by-experience and a carer. It included members from the partner arm’s length bodies who hold critical responsibilities related to the planning and delivery of care, as well as representatives from the voluntary sector and professional bodies.

Members of the taskforce were responsible for making sure that there was cross-system commitment and alignment when developing actions within the national strategy and that continued partnership, working effectively and meaningfully, enables the strategy to be delivered.

Paul Farmer and other taskforce members continue to be involved in the oversight of the delivery of the taskforce recommendations through an independent advisory and oversight group.

The strategy was the product of wide ranging engagement with people with personal experience of mental health issues, families, carers and professionals as well as the review of clinical and economic evidence. Over 20,000 people gave their views to the taskforce – an unprecedented level of feedback which clearly demonstrates that people are passionate about improving mental health care and support across the NHS. The [PDF] findings from that engagement work were included in a report published in September 2015.

Improvements in access to high quality services, choice of interventions, integrated physical and mental health care, prevention initiatives, funding and challenging stigma were people’s top priorities as to how the system needs to change by 2020. This feedback directly shaped the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health.

• Download [PDF] Five Year Forward View for Mental Health (easy read)
• Listen to the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health (audio version)
• Download the taskforce’s [PDF] Terms of Reference.

 

[Dx Revision Watch]

Just before Christmas, I posted a number of examples of NHS MUS and PPS (Persistent physical symptoms) services that are popping up like mushrooms across the UK.

This was in a "Members Only" thread. It has been suggested that it would be useful to collate examples of MUS and PPS services in a public thread, as they come to readers' attention, and I intend to put this in hand over the next couple of days.

 

[Barry53]

I do hope governments wise up and track objective outcomes.

Nice thought but uncharacteristically naive of you @alex3619 . Tracking objective outcomes are what governments around the world avoid like the plague, albeit they talk about it a lot. I think "Spin" and tracking of objective outcomes are mutually exclusive by definition pretty much.

 

[Barry53]

I think there is an unpleasant logic to all this:-

• Less and less money to go round.
• IT provided health services look (to the short-sighted naive) to be far less costly than proper care.
• IT provided health services not an option for proven physical conditions.
• Can convince the naive that mental health can be provided for with IT services.
• Shoehorn everthing possible into the mental health category.
• Long term does not matter, because some other bunch of politicians will be carrying the can by then.
• Ditto the harm that lack of proper care will cause to patients long term.

My jaded opinion, but I really believe probably true.

 

[alex3619]

Nice thought but uncharacteristically naive of you @alex3619

I think you missed my hint of sarcasm. Hence my pie in the sky comment. Governments sometimes do track things, but its the exception and not the rule, and their tracking may be substandard.

 

[Dx Revision Watch]

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices...y-fixes-problems-tories-created-a7518111.html

Theresa May’s mental health speech isn’t anything new - she’s fixing problems the Tories created in the first place

Mark Brown
9 January 2017

------------------------------

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/09/theresa-may-mental-health-pledges-cuts

Theresa May's mental health pledges don't roll back years of Tory cuts
Hannah Jane Parkinson
9 January 2017

------------------------------

Times Educational Supplement

https://www.tes.com/news/school-new...ary-schools-be-offered-mental-health-training

Teachers in all secondary schools to be offered mental health training
TES reporter
9th January 2017 at 11:16

"Under the plans, mental health training for teachers and staff will be rolled out to a third of secondary schools in England next year, with the remaining two-thirds of secondary schools offered the support in the following two years."


Not seen any reference to pilots/implementation in infant and junior schools but if Large Donner has the source I'd be pleased to have it.

 

[TiredSam]

Not seen any reference to pilots/implementation in infant and junior schools but if Large Donner has the source I'd be pleased to have it.

Starting with the teenagers makes sense, as they'll be able to attach all kinds of diagnostic labels to normal teenage behaviour.

 

[Dx Revision Watch]

..."Under the plans, mental health training for teachers and staff will be rolled out to a third of secondary schools in England next year, with the remaining two-thirds of secondary schools offered the support in the following two years."

Not seen any reference to pilots/implementation in infant and junior schools but if Large Donner has the source I'd be pleased to have it.

Just to clarify, my point above was not questioning the absence of proposals for pilots/implementation in primary school age children but the absence of a source for Large Donner's statement:

"Remember also this is all going to be done using citizen spies on children in schools from the age of four."

 

[Dx Revision Watch]

More from TES (Times Educational Supplement):

https://www.tes.com/news/school-new...-government-measures-improve-pupils-wellbeing

Ministers' strategy includes mental health first-aid training for teachers, peer mentoring and an initiative to tackle stigma

9 January 2017


"...The government provided more details on its plans in a document published today, as a response to recommendations to a mental health taskforce chaired by Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind. These include:

1. Making mental health first-aid training available to all secondary schools, with the aim of having trained at least one teacher in every secondary school by 2019;
2. Evaluating different approaches which schools can use to prevent mental ill-health;
3. Launching a pilot programme on peer support for young people in schools and online;
4. Publishing a Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health later this year;
5. Making an investment of £20 million in the Time to Change anti-stigma programme, which will focus on improving the attitudes of young people towards mental health and reaching 1.75 million young people by 2020;
6. Reporting on the prevalance of mental health conditions in children and young people. A survey will be carried out in this year and is due to report in 2018; the last survey on mental health conditions in children was in 2004. It will include information on issues such as eating disorders, cyberbullying and social media;
7. Asking the Care Quality Commission and Ofsted to look into how to assess whether health and education systems are working together on the issue, perhaps through joint inspections on children’s mental health and wellbeing.

The equivalent of three pupils in every classroom suffer from a diagnosable mental health condition, Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, said today..."​

--------------------

Note that whilst the most common route for a referral to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) is through a GP, other professionals can refer to CAMHS, including school nurses, teachers, educational psychologists, EWOs (education welfare officers), Head teachers of Special Schools, SENCos (special educational needs co-ordinators) at secondary schools who have had attended training on referral to CAMHS, social workers, paediatricians, health visitors, Youth Offending Team.

 

[Dx Revision Watch]

More comment from TES:

https://www.tes.com/news/school-new...-need-pr-spin-about-tackling-mental-health-we

'Theresa May, we don't need PR spin about tackling mental health – we need proper funding and action'

Natasha Devon
9th January 2017 at 11:45

"...It was during a roundtable at the DfE. The chief executive officer of one of Britain’s largest mental health charities turned to me and said: “Natasha, if your vision of improvements to mental health necessitates investment into services, I’m afraid that is just a pipe dream. There is no money.”

"The group then went on to enthusiastically discuss the launch of an app for young people that would cost millions of pounds. (“And at the end you get a badge,” said its inventor. “Young people love badges.”)

"It was at that precise moment the disturbing truth hit me. This had never been about helping vulnerable young people. This was a marketing exercise in which I had been used as a pawn..."

Natasha Devon is the former UK government mental health champion for schools

 

[Snowdrop]

I think there is an unpleasant logic to all this:-

• Less and less money to go round.

Well, yes and no. Just to point out that there is more money than ever before--it's just not available for public use while in the piggy banks of the gazillionaires. I mention the niggling detail because to me it's a symptom of the problem that extends beyond ME and even health care.
Politicians have largely sold themselves and are no longer public servants -they are corporate servants (though a few might mistakenly think it's the same thing).

The trend toward creating a new aristocracy is part and parcel of what we have to fight against to make headway with gov'ts in getting justice for people with ME (and for many other issues also). I think if things continue to be resistant to rational decision making then it will become necessary to show a more united front with others.

That is not to say that nothing good can happen or that progress cannot be made. As we've seen, it can. But I think it will mostly come from the corporate sector either philanthropist or from those who see money to be made. Meanwhile I believe it is still worthwhile to lobby governments but with 'eyes open' so to speak and not let them off the hook for what they're doing. They should know we know where this is leading and that they cannot continue quietly pretending otherwise.

The caveat being that gov't is not a monolith and I'm not suggesting that that this policy is evenly applied all the time to everything. It's not.

And Wessely is definitely a poster boy for the new order as it pertains to the health sector. I's almost be inclined to give up a kidney to know if he really understands the true evil and public harm of his position. Although rather than my donated kidney I'd prefer a whistle blower.

 

[Barry53]

I's almost be inclined to give up a kidney to know if he really understands the true evil and public harm of his position.

I suspect he does not care. Probably got a knighthood in his sights more like.

 

[Barry53]

I think you missed my hint of sarcasm.

Correct .

 

[slysaint]

Probably got a knighthood in his sights more like.

He's already got one.........more likely aiming for a peerage.

 

[Snowdrop]

He's already got one.........more likely aiming for a peerage.

This makes me conflicted as to metaphor for our Wessely, should it be Sheriff of Nottingham or (since we've used a boat for PACE) Captain of the Jolly Roger?

 

[SilverbladeTE]

I suspect he does not care. Probably got a knighthood in his sights more like.

He already HAS a Knighthood and to show how perverse and corrupt the British Establishment is, they made him a Regius Professor as well, a very rare honour indeed.

Regius Professor, Sir Simon Wessely, High F'Nugget of the Order of Slimy Bastardos,
Lord Poobah of the Knights of Rat Bastardy and Master of the Treacherous Muppets of Satan's Sulphurous Smeg!

 

[SilverbladeTE]

Wessely at his Day Job