Older people losing out again

This story on the BBC website highlights problems with mental health services for the over 65s. Mental health services are stretched at the best of times so it doesn't seem a surprise that older people are losing out. But even if mental health services were great and under subscribed, would people over 65 be referred to these services if they were needed? The report highlights that not necessarily, as one key reason why older people don't get the mental health support they needed is because of attitudes to older people.

I worked for a very short period of time in an old people's home. One of the residents would sit in the dining hall mournfully crying "Let me Die, Let me die" over and over again. Although everyone at the home were professional and caring they responded to this gentleman as if it was inevitable that he should feel like this and that there wasn't much that could be done for him. It was a shame and he was helped as far as was possible but I wasn't aware of any specialist mental health support. For some of the younger care assistants it seemed they thought that it was natural that you would want to die if you were his age.

I can only see things changing for the better though, as my parents generation who grew up in the 60s, reach their 60s they will be far more demanding of services and their rights. But will the younger generation have any more respect for older people?

Equality Commission Chaos

The weekend has seen more revelations from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Guardian and Observer reported on new resignations, a threatened resignation from Bert Massie a key Commissioner, financial irregularities, poor value for money, allegations of a culture of bullying and even claims of discrimination.

The sad fact of the matter is that I am not surprised. I had the opportunity to work for the new Commission if I'd wanted it; my job at the Disability Rights Commission would have been transfered into the EHRC's policy and strategy directorate. (The Directorate formally headed by Patrick Diamond before he quit last week.) I chose to look for other jobs and successfully found one which allowed me to leave the DRC 3 weeks before it closed and the EHRC opened.

I chose to leave for a number of reasons. I had initially been in favour of a broad equality commission, and in some what of a minority. As more details of the new Commission were revealed or not revealed as was usually the case I began to worry. I was also not thrilled by the choice of Trevor Phillips as Chair. I had worked at the GLA when Phillips was an Assembly member and I did not want to renew my acquaintance with him again in a hurry. But beyond any concerns I might have about his style of leadership, I don't want to get into any trouble here but lets just say he has a direct style and likes lots of things to be run past him. I actually thought it was a mistake to appoint anyone as chair who was too famous or known for their own views on certain issues. I think a Chair of the EHRC needs to be able to represent all groups of people and champion the voices of those who seldom get heard.

The trouble with a Chair like Trevor Phillips is that a lot of people have heard of him and already have an opinion of him. Straight away a group of key stakeholders in the Commission are switched off and not interested because they don't like Trevor. The media have opinions too and are poised to rip into any problems at the Commission so they can either play the political correctness gone mad card or lay into Phillips. Then there is the issue of political alliances. With a clash between various political interests being played out over the Commission I am very worried that some problems will be blown out of all proportion in a spin war whilst others will be swept under the carpet.

I have a lot of friends who still work at the Commission and are desperately trying to make a real difference to people's lives. All this media attention over high level officials, and political spin totally detracts from the work they are doing and the genuine problems that they are facing whilst trying to get their work done. So I really hope that something positive can come out of the "chaos" right now and that these issues being reported in the papers aren't going to be used to railroad the Commission into a very difficult position for everyone including their Chair.

Jargon busting

Now I could have run with the story about David - Del Boy - Jason telling a racist joke on live radio but I won't. I just think that these endless tales of "celebs" making inappropriate comments or telling inappropriate jokes can do more harm than good to race relations. The radio station in question is hardly popular and only a few people will have heard the actual joke. But now everyone has heard the joke and David Jason will become yet another martyr for the Daily Mail "UK poisoned by political correctness gone mad" campaign. Anyway I said I wsn't going to comment.

I did want to highlight this story about public sector jargon.

Jargon, the world of equality and diversity is full of it. Some would argue that E&D its self is just jargon for common sense and fairness. But there is a serious reason why the public sector should avoid using jargon.

Jargon irritates, confuses and alienates people, whether it is colleagues, customers or the general public. I remember going to a meeting with some training providers back in 1999 when I worked for the jobcentre. (Jobcentres don't have jargon more like a language of their own,) but this meeting was external and the presenter was asking for ideas. Every now and then she would say about an idea "We'll park that" or "It's been car parked." I didn't have a clue what she was on about. It made absolutely no sense to me and I kept looking over her shoulder to the window behind her where the car park was to see if there was something physically there that she was referring to! I caught on in the end.

So if I can be bamboozled by jargon how are older people, youngsters, people with learning disabilities and those who speak English as a second language going to fare?

I am sorry to say that this use of jargon has lead the LGA to produce a list of "banned words" that it does not want to see councils using. I don't like banning things generally unless they are going to cause someone serious mental, emotional or physical harm. So banning words just makes me cross. It's a silly response to a real problem.

Council's and all of the public sector should be encouraged to communicate honestly and as simply and effectively as possible. A clear, honest and creative communication does not need to hide behind jargon. I am sure the media and even the LGAs PR people have spun this "ban" to get publicity and create a hook for the story. So I think this is a worthy cause to stop jargon but banning words is a nonsense. I hate the phrase "blue sky thinking" with a passion but if I thought it was a banned phrase I would use it just to show how ridiculous the concept of banning words is! What's it going to be next? I'm not going to be allowed to think the phrase "level playing filed" when I am in a local government building?

Irony of ironies some of the jargon phrases remind me of doublespeak but Big Brother is banning their use!

How many more lives will it take?

This BBC article outlines yet another report and condemnation of the dreadful discrimination, neglect and indifference experienced by people with learning disabilities in relation to health services. These issues aren't new. Speak to a good learning disability nurse or social worker (and there are many of them) and they will tell you that they have been trying to raise these issues for decades. Talk to any organisation of people with learning disabilities and they will tell you that they have been campaigning on these issues for decades.

People with learning disabilities face some of the most insidious forms of discrimination where society denies them a voice. The only way I can see that change will happen and make a difference is if we all begin to spend time with, listen to and involve people with learning disabilities in every day life. In their lives and society at large.

When I worked for the GLA I got Ken Livingstone, Peter Hendy (then Head of Buses, now Head of TfL) and leading Met Police officials to sit down and listen to and talk with people with learning difficulties and that was the only way to get the ball rolling and for the officials to take learning disability seriously. It worked while these conversations were happening, but they need to be sustained and they need to become common practice.

Nicola Brewer to leave Equality Commission

The Equality and Human Rights Commission announced today that Nicola Brewer their CEO will be leaving - she is going to some new mysterious "opportunity."

It is no surprise to anyone who worked for the former Commissions or the EHRC as Nicola always said that she would only stay for 2 years. Still it means a very interesting opportunity for some aspiring CEO is about to be announced. Working with Trevor Phillips may put some off but maybe have others running to apply. Who knows???

Domestic violence in the news again

The Home Secretary Jackie Smith has launched a consultation on how to tackle violence against women in the home the BBC reported today. Nicky Campbell ran his daily phone in session on 5 Breakfast about a Mori poll which said that a sizable minority of people thought that sometimes it was ok for a man to hit a woman. Later in the day there were many criticisms of Jackie Smith's plans. I am too tired to go into it now but I would direct anyone reading to see my entry on Dangerous Love.

Inclusive, innovative learning

I had a fascinating and absorbing day today at Sheffield Hallam University in the Faculty of Wellbeing - in the Robert Winston Building. (It used to be the YMCA on Broomhall Road, which I have fond memories of after a Tensing weekend there in 1991)

I was there to discuss amongst other things the issue of reasonable adjustments for health students. The meeting was incredibly useful, absorbing and worthwhile. We all agreed that so much more would get done in life if we could just take some time to discuss ideas with each other, particularly difficult concepts like - when is reasonable unreasonable?

However I wanted to draw attention to how impressed I was with the facilities for learning there. The link above shows Professor Winston demonstrating some of the state of the art simulation tools they have. It was a breath of fresh air to be back in a learning environment like Sheffield Hallam. I felt rather jealous that I was going to have to go back to my desk in London on Monday. I'd rather be in a innovative and inclusive learning environment!

NHS Equality Guidance

The NHS has added to it's suite of guidance on equality issues, joining guidance on religion and ethics, disability, gender and trans the sexual orientation guidance was launched at the end of last week. Useful for NHS staff of course but also useful for patients to know what health professionals are being advised about.

Cervical cancer - an issue for all women

The BBC is running a story that Stonewall and other campaigning organisations for gay and lesbian rights have been pushing for a number of years now. Research has shown that lesbian women are less likely to have a smear than heterosexual or bi-sexual women. As 80% of lesbian women have had at least one male sexual partner, they are at risk of developing cervical cancer but also at risk of it not being identified if they are not encouraged to take up the smear test.

With the sad news about Jade Goody and her very public battle with cervical cancer there has been a rise in young women seeking smears from their local surgeries, which can only be a good thing. I was pleased to see the BBC running the story to raise awareness that lesbian women also need to consider whether they need a smear. The advice is - as one GP bluntly put it to me:
"Unless you have lived the life of a devout nun - get a smear!"

Dangerous Love

I didn’t think I would be blogging about such a serious and difficult subject as domestic violence as my first real entry on my The Salmon Leaping blog. Nor did I expect my first entry to be so long. Difficult for me as I was once in a relationship that was violent. But today the media has been running pictures of Danielle Lloyd after she was beaten by an ex boyfriend. This is because Danielle is investigating violence in teenage relationships in a programme tonight on BBC3 called Dangerous Love - a Comic Relief Special.

Domestic violence has been in the news a lot recently, firstly with the research published indicating that more men are the victims of domestic violence than was previously thought. Then there was the reports that Rihanna, the R&B singer had been assaulted by her boyfriend and photos of her bruised face were leaked.

Although clearly a distressing subject I am definitely pleased to see domestic violence being discussed in the media and being tackled openly and honestly by people like Danielle Lloyd. The Equality and Human Rights Commission have been running a campaign to provide more support for women who experience domestic violence through the Map of Gaps website where you can enter your post code and find out how many services there are locally dealing with violence against women. The site demonstrates the post code lottery when it comes to the provision of services. In Merton where I live there are 2 services offered, in Bromley where I used to live and where I experienced the domestic violence there is just 1 service. I also put in my parents post code and for Doncaster there are 5 different services tackling domestic violence.

When I worked for the Mayor of London some years back we had a map of London as a carpet and on that map for one month we placed cardboard cut out statues representing the women who had died in London due to domestic violence over a few years. It was grim viewing. Bromley with its one lonely service although geographically it is the largest borough, had a concentration of the card board statues.

I think this illustrates a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed when discussing domestic violence and when planning services. The nice leafy suburbs don’t like to think that it happens behind their privet hedges and net curtains. Domestic violence is seem as something affecting the working class, the non respectable.

I considered myself to be very respectable with a good job, I lived in a beautiful leafy and highly sought after area of Bromley. I was a high achiever, intelligent and I had worked on projects promoting women’s issues I had even been the Women’s Officer at my University. I wouldn’t even admit to myself that I was in an abusive relationship. Domestic violence was something that happened to other people. I couldn’t see the classic behaviour displayed by my ex as he isolated me from those who cared about me and particularly those who would be strong enough to stand up to him. He manipulated and i very easily went along with his version of everything, he did it all because I told myself that he loved me and the others didn’t care about me like he did. I put up with and accepted 2 isolated acts of violence and years of threats and emotional bullying. It was only once I had decided for myself that the relationship was destructive that when for a third time he was violent that I called the police and got him out of my life.

The hardest thing for me to come to terms with and it has taken me 3 years to admit this was that I was experiencing domestic violence and that I had allowed it to continue because I didn’t recognise what was happening to me and most importantly I did not want to admit that I was a victim and that my relationship had failed.

I do get cross when I hear other women saying “Why didn’t she just leave him? Why didn’t she just walk out of the room.?” (As Shelag Fogarty on Radio 5 Live said some weeks back) when they hear about women in violent relationships. I didn’t walk out because my ex would have just followed. It took me nearly 6 months of strife and grief and calls to the police to get him to leave. But fundamentally for so much of the time I did not think I was in an abusive relationship and I convinced myself completely otherwise.

The more we discuss this issue, the more we explore where and how domestic violence happens including violence within gay and lesbian relationships, the domestic violence inflicted on disabled people and older people and that experienced by teenagers as Danielle’s programme explores, the more likely we are to help those experiencing the violence to recognise it and feel safe and supported enough to take action. I have written this knowing that some of my friends will read this who knew nothing of what I went through, and although I am ashamed on one level on the other I really want to raise awareness and this is just one small way of doing just that.

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