Labour’s ‘back to work’ focus is harming patients, say mental health experts
Manchester’s three ‘Early Intervention in Psychosis’ teams are striking against dangerous understaffing and misaligned priorities of the local authority – similar to the new Labour government’s plan to force patients receiving mental health treatment to meet ‘work coaches’ who have the power to sanction their benefits. A public statement from the three teams reads:
The three Manchester Early Intervention in Psychosis teams have recently held a ballot, with our Unison and Unite members voting overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action. We [held] our first strike day on Wednesday the 16th of October outside our based at Chorlton House, 70 Manchester Road, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, M21 9UN.
Our community mental health services in Manchester have, for many years, been deprived of the resources we need to do our jobs safely and effectively. We can no longer tolerate the negative impact that this lack of adequate staffing is having on the physical and mental well-being of those who use community mental health services in the locality.
To our Service Users and families, we want your involvement with our service to be of the highest standard possible. We are striking to draw attention to our staff shortages. We hope you are not inconvenienced on or around our strike days. Although we will have a reduced service on strike days, we will make sure that some of our team are available to respond to urgent needs or crisis.
To any service users who attend Chorlton house for appointments or therapy sessions on strike days, please know that our friendly picket is aimed at securing more resources for mental health services locally. We encourage you to attend your appointments as usual and apologise in advance if there is a little extra background noise during your meetings (e.g. occasional car horn beeps in support of our efforts).
We are a small service and so our impact will be limited without the support of the public. Please assist us to publicise & encourage this new government to address the current crisis and invest in Manchester Early Intervention and secondary care community mental health services. For updates, please check out our dedicated Twitter account or contact us on MancStrikeMH@yahoo.com.
In Summary: In 2020, NHS England identified that £1.03 million of ‘ringfenced’ funding for Manchester Early Intervention in Psychosis Services (EIS) was given to Greater Manchester (GM) Commissioners, but we did not receive the significant investment we need either then or since.
As well as alleviating distress, reducing hospital admissions and high suicide rates in these risky first years of psychosis, EIS saves £7,972 per person in the first four years, and £6,780 per person in the next four to 10 years of a person’s involvement with services (e.g. http://Rethink.org, 2024).
Every pound spent on Early Intervention in Psychosis Services saves society £18. Despite this, we have not received any significant investment in many years. Multiple CQC inspections and independent reports have identified that Manchester community mental health services for people with more severe and enduring mental health difficulties (CMHTs) are failing desperately.
With 60% higher need than average for mental health services in Manchester and only £145 ‘per person’ in funding (compared to the £210 ‘per person’ nationally), GM commissioners and senior Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust (GMMH) management have an extremely difficult job to do.
Unfortunately for us, GM commissioners and politicians prioritised mild to moderate mental health and ‘getting people back to work’ since 2019. This decision disadvantaged and discriminated against patients with more serve and enduring mental health needs.
As our CMHTs (community mental health trusts) are failing for service users, families and staff, patient distress, health difficulties and mortality rates have increased significantly. The region is trapped in a pattern of paying millions for expensive ‘out of area’ hospital beds and temporary agency staff, instead of proactively investing the preventative funding needed within the community services themselves.
Now a much needed ‘community transformation’ has started to take place within CMHTs across the country. Manchester CMHTs amount to over 1% of the country’s CMHT population. We received 0% of the £2.3 billion a year funding and 0% of the £975 million per year ‘Service Development Funding’ supposed to help CMHTs adequately prepare for and staff this big transformation. GMMH Trust and GM commissioners have been told we are getting no more money for the region. Worse, we are told that Manchester is £180 million ‘in debt’ thanks to the lack of central government resources allocated to the region.
So, we desperately need investment within the region and what NHS England and Central Government are ‘offering’ is more austerity and cuts to local services. Despite the absence of investment and with our CMHTs in crisis, this big unfunded reorganisation is starting right now.
We are ignoring the lessons from the 12-community transformation ‘early adopter’ sites and instigating big changes with little staffing. Without a large investment of new money for the region, we are guaranteeing many more years of failing CMHT services locally.
We need the government to take responsibility for the mess we are in. Please help us and our most disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens of Manchester. Demand significant regional investment and improved services for people with more severe mental health problems now. Support us to get our message to those in government who can rectify this situation.
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WHY was none of the £1.03 million of ‘ringfenced’ funding for Manchester Early Intervention in Psychosis Services (EIS), which was supposedly allocated to Greater Manchester (GM) Commissioners, received by the target EIS?
Prioritisation issue, book-keeping inaccuracy, theft, something else?
Anybody know?
If Unison and Unite staff had not voted to strike, would we ever have known?
If truly a prioritisation issue, like the statement says, it suggests there’s inadequate ‘accountability’ where piss-poor budgets would needs it most, benefit achievement. Thanks for disclosing this in your statement three EIS health workers.
Maybe this should be part of the “reform” programme Streeting needs to impose on the NHS (instead of ‘reforms’ that provide revenue opportunities to private businesses).
Saw this:
‘For those of us that have been quite mad.
We don’t need no morons coming in and saying: “Hey punk get a job!”
We recovered through patience and human kindness.
Not a Right Wing Labour Minister who is a Lumpen Knob!’
“Do you know how it feels?
To always feel sad.
Capitalism.
Can make you quite mad.
Disabled apartheid.”
Disabled Apartheid, The Big Red Freedom Train.