Message to the Chief Executive and Deputy Leader of Quality.

Message to the Rt. Hon Joan Ryan MP

It has been over nine weeks and Elizabeth is still on an acute ward at Enfield Chase Farm Hospital – Suffolk Ward.  The RC left all of a sudden and replaced by another on a temporary basis.  The care coordinator and Manager are also based along with the acting RC at 58 – 60 Silver Street Enfield –  Enfield East Recovery Team.

COMPLEX PTSD

I believe my daughter Elizabeth has the diagnosis of complex PTSD.  She is so traumatised that she has disassociated herself from certain events too painful to deal with and needs professional help of a specialist nature before being placed straight into the community without enough support.

YESTERDAY

I received a phone call from Elizabeth distressed.  I can tell by the tone of her voice.  She had been taken to see a scheme called Emerald House Care Home.  Elizabeth does not like the area –  It is situated on the corner of a busy road junction.  When I visited her in Edgware she was struggling to cross small roads.  Elizabeth was transferred to Edgware from Suffolk Ward as she was being attacked by another patient and hit around the head.  Elizabeth was upset by the assessment which concluded she had to take medication to live there.    She has been medication free now for 60 days and starting to recover.

PRIVATE CARE WE PROVIDED

I provided the most wonderful care in desperation as I could see Elizabeth going downhill in the local community.  What we spent was a fraction of what care must be costing right now on an acute ward which is the wrong environment.  Elizabeth stayed in the family home of MH professionals.  She was taken on holiday with them to France and Spain and saw some wonderful places, ending up at the World Hearing Voices Congress in Paris and was taken out to dinner by some French MH professionals who made were fascinated by her story.  To everyone’s astonishment Elizabeth got on a plane and went to Australia to stay in various recovery houses, working with international MH professionals who were appalled and fed up with the mainstream system of care.  They did a wonderful job in making Elizabeth well again – when she came home she was unrecognisable and we were so happy but we had no support in the local area and something triggered her returning to the family home and local area which was not the plan as we had hoped she would make a fresh start elsewhere.   When she came home she revealed to everyone that the most terrible things had happened to her under a local scheme in the community called Moti Villa based along the Ridgeway Enfield.  This is recorded in files and Police were involved but she was on 800mg of Quetiapine (Seroquel) and Police did not investigate properly so I have contacted them and they are currently looking into information I have supplied and I am waiting to hear further. To this date no appropriate counselling has been provided.

MOTI VILLA, THE RIDGEWAY ENFIELD -2010

I wont reveal all details but have kept extensive records on what happened to my daughter back in 2010.  When Elizabeth came back home from Australia and even prior this, she was reliving her nightmares and untreated trauma resulted in her behaviour through incidents which would suggest she is suffering from complex PTSD.   I am not  a Doctor to come to this conclusion but not one doctor is willing to look into matters further and recommend the appropriate help.   Elizabeth complained of seeing faces from the past, hearing knocking at her window.  She is traumatised by her experience which was displayed in her behaviour.  I have proven that with kindness and humane care provided by an organisation called http://www.working-to-recovery who have a unique response that she can be helped and if she can be helped then so can so many others.  Going back to Moti Villa, Elizabeth was full of fear to return there and  she was not given the opportunity to move elsewhere.   She was too unstable on the 800mg to have home at the time.   She was a revolving door case and each time she was prescribed even more drugs such as Chlorpromazine, Haloperidol, Zopical and Lorazepam.  All these drugs resulted in tremendous suffering caused by local Doctors instead of dealing with the trauma by way of therapy.  A leading Professor said “how on earth can anyone function on as much as 800 mg of Quetiapine.  Good Question.

POLICE INVESTIGATION AND NEGLECT

Police failed to interview anyone in connection with the incident at Moti Villa which Elizabeth has openly spoken about to family and close friends and even in front of staff at Cygnet Beckton.  (it is no use ENFIELD MH trying to deny what happened as I have extensive files)   These files are with Police right now as no one could  be bothered to come round to see me.  It was only when I complained they finally got in touch as I had threatened to send the files right to the very top of the Police Force and may still do so.  It may well be an incident that occurred quite some time ago but at the very least , the case should remain “open” and not be closed  –  I have evidence that says the complete opposite of their conclusion.

If there was any hint of abuse that occurred back in 2010 Moti Villa then appropriate counselling should have been given rather than enormous quantities of drugs.  Having seen that Elizabeth can be helped by proper care and therapy it is only natural that I feel in the circumstances that this should be offered to her now she is drug free after eleven years and starting to feel a bit better but still suffering from the pain of withdrawal.

When I look back at the file records I see nothing but incompetence as obviously something is wrong when someone is so desperate they keep ending up time and time again a revolving door case and each time the answer was yet more and more drugs.

I see nasty comments written behind our backs by people who know nothing about the family.

AUSTRALIA UP UNTIL NOW:

Since returning home from Australia Elizabeth had hugely improved.   The private MH had worked with her extensively on underlying issues.   They recognised she could possibly have a learning disability and we as a family feel that she has complex PTSD as she is clearly a trauma victim.  I have a psychiatric report for court purposes that states this fact.  When Elizabeth came home she tried to do everything herself and making a huge effort.  She even wanted a job.  She was just left to go downhill.   No-one helped her and we applied for the new initiative called Dialogue First run by North East London MH Trust, as we thought that this would be of benefit to work in an open transparent manner with other professionals from outside of my local area of ENFIELD as all Elizabeth wants is for her family to be together not pulled apart by professionals who do not like me as a mother.   We met the criteria as Elizabeth was discharged from local MH services and wanted nothing more to do with them. She was under her GP based at Willow House Surgery, Willow Road Enfield and we both requested this but for some reason he never referred Elizabeth to this wonderful initiative. I am left wondering why to this day we never received this referral from the GP

Without any support whatsoever Elizabeth went downhill and PTSD can be triggered by an event that occurs.  Getting away from this area into a different more peaceful environment did her the world of good.  Feeling safe in the company of professionals who truly helped did her the world of good.  Treating her like a human being instead of an object also worked brilliantly too.   Being surrounded by kindness, animals, healthy environment –  I’m sure if you took any of those patients from the acute wards and gave them this opportunity they could come back quite well.  However without any backup in the local community someone can easily go downhill.  She needed just a little bit of ongoing therapy and support in the community which would have cost a fraction compared to Cygnet.

As Elizabeth felt so well on her return she no longer wanted to take the tiny portion of Abilify at 2.5 mg.   This drug has caused many problems with adverse reactions twice at home.   Now sadly she has ended up back in the mainstream system. However they have respected her wishes in hospital to remain drug free and she has been off all psychiatric drugs for about 60 days now.

Elizabeth has so far been sent to three different hospitals:

Cygnet Beckton:  costing £12500 per week –  put her back on the drug Abilify despite knowing she had more than one bad reaction on it.   They also introduced Chlorpromazine.  After I posted how much my local area were spending on Twitter she was released in one afternoon and taken to Suffolk Ward Chase Farm Hospital.

Suffolk Ward Chase Farm Hospital:  Acute ward but better than Cygnet in terms of the fact at least she could have her possessions and not be overshadowed during family visits.  RC  Dr Choudhuary has since all of a sudden left – he told her at a meeting I did not attend that if she did not choose her father as next of kin she would be thrown out on the street.  This prompted me to obtain the Discharge Policy of the hospital.

Withdrawing from the drug Abilify at 2.5 mg in a volatile environment is not easy.  It is a very powerful drug and Elizabeth has complained of chronic pain.  Peace and quiet is needed and staff are busy on acute wards so the environment is not right for Elizabeth to recover.  Elizabeth was beaten up by another patient on this ward and this is why she  was transferred to Trent Ward Edgware.

Trent Ward Edgware:

Some distance away from where we live and I could only visit at weekends.  She was eventually allowed out of this ward unescorted for a short time each day and was able to find her way around the local area which was unfamiliar with.  Elizabeth was starting to get distressed by the environment on this mixed ward and was intimidated by some male patients.  I attended a meeting with RC Dr Rashid who mentioned about a recovery house shared with twelve others was all he could offer.  Elizabeth who was quite traumatised has described her experience as alarm bells sounding every five minutes,  difficult to sleep as not peaceful and upset by seeing the way other patients were forcibly injected/drugged and I was receiving daily calls from her quite distressed.  She said “do something, Mum – please do something about the system of MH care in the UK.”  I said I would do my best and the only way was to speak openly about what was going on.

Suffolk House Palmers Green Recovery House:

Barnet Home Treatment Team discharged her there.  At the weekend prior to this move I could tell Elizabeth was not happy and distressed.  Elizabeth had asked me to bring some possessions up for her but when I arrived in the evening she was quite distressed and so  I promptly left and she had thrown the bags of belongings back at me.  She was upset that I had missed her calls as I was driving.  I got a call from the Recovery House that she was being discharged onto the street and I was distraught as I was so far away and could not help –  I made numerous phone calls but I could not get through to care coordinator or anyone in that department.

Back at Suffolk Ward Chase Farm:

Back to square 1 –  Back on a noisy acute ward.  Elizabeth has only just started seeing a  Psychologist who was just about to refer her to some trauma therapy for relaxation/ anger management.  However whilst this therapy is beneficial the environment is wrong and unless someone is in a peaceful environment how can such therapy benefit them.

The various NHS wards have respected Elizabeth’s wishes not to take medication. She is not on section and is voluntary.  Elizabeth can go out unescorted into the grounds and beyond.  Going out into the fresh air makes Elizabeth happy.  For those patients stuck on the wards under section, it must be awful even though they are taken out for regular fresh air.   Elizabeth has been distressed at seeing how other patients are being treated.  Last Sunday when I dropped Elizabeth back to the ward after seeing the R D Laing film there were about 4-5 patients involved in fighting on the ward,  trouble started in the lounge and spread to the corridors right next to me. We quickly retreated into her room and locked the door to stay away from the escalating violence.   This kind of environment is wrong for Elizabeth and I heard costs as much as £900 per night, yet what is sad is that she can get better in the right environment at a fraction of the cost being spent.  It has been over nine weeks and Elizabeth has not had the therapy she needs which is only now due to commence and now care coordinator based at 58 – 60 Silver Street – namely Enfield East Recovery Team wish to discharge Elizabeth into the community before the therapy even commences

Yesterday whilst at work I got a call from Elizabeth which was upsetting.  Elizabeth was talking about placements and that she had been taken to see one of them.

PLACEMENTS AND TREATMENT.

Care coordinator, her Manager and Acting RC Dr Hussain are based under Enfield East Recovery Team, 58 – 60 Silver Street Enfield and they have identified placements for Elizabeth to view locally.   I feel she should have the counselling first before she is just placed straight into the community as she has gone through further trauma by being on acute wards

Elizabeth has been further traumatised by being on three acute wards where she has witnessed and experienced violence and drugging/injection of other patients.   She was also subject to the enforced injection herself whilst under Section 2 where her brand new slippers broke, when dragged to the seclusion room for throwing out another patient’s bags from her shared room.   Acting Responsible Clinician DR BASSIT HUSSAIN  agreed this was not acceptable.

No appropriate therapy for PTSD has even taken place yet on the ward and Elizabeth has only just started seeing a Psychologist who has suggested medication rather than therapy but for PTSD it is not recommended psychiatric drugs under NICE Guidelines.  Therapy is the answer for a trauma victim and this works as I have proven.  Elizabeth needs to be referred for therapy not put under pressure to take drugs.

Emerald House is a care home based in Enfield and Elizabeth was told at the end of the assessment she would have to take medication or have injections to live there. Elizabeth has refused the placement.

There are two more placements to be seen – one in a different area but do they have the same stance on medication I wonder?

I have been told the following regarding medication in the community :

“quite a few people recently in the UK say they are being told that they have to take “medication” because of a CTO (community treatment order). You may have been told this is the case but it isn’t really how CTOs work. They are meant to be an agreement between the patient and professionals and according to the Code Of Practice they should only be used if you are prepared to agree with the treatment plan. They are not meant to be used to blackmail you into taking the “medication” with the threat of hospitalisation. There is no legal power that allows forced medication to be given in the community – in reality being on a CTO really makes little difference (you can be sectioned with or without one). If you are on a CTO and disagree with the treatment plan, you should make it clear that you will NEVER accept the proposed treatment. They can drag you back into hospital if they think you are at risk of “relapse” and then give you “medication” without your consent, but they will need your consent to give it in the community and it would not make sense for them to use a CTO if you are not in agreement with the plan. I had one client who refused to accept the depot in community and was told she would not be allowed out of hospital. She said “fine, I like it here” and they discharged her without the depot. Remember that nobody can force you to take the “medication” in the community, and don’t let them tell you that they can.”

Well said!

QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED

Do the two remaining schemes have the same stance on medication?

Why should Elizabeth be forced to go back on drugs after 60 days off them when:

• she cannot metabolise them as proven in P450 liver enzyme tests
• her trauma back in 2010 relates to abuse suffered under local scheme Moti Villa, the Ridgeway, Enfield – no appropriate counselling offered

Why was Elizabeth not offered appropriate counselling going back to 2010 when professionals knew something had happened to her?

Why didn’t Police do a proper investigation?

Why was she placed in the community on as much as 800mg of Quetiapine?

Why wasn’t Elizabeth moved from this placement?

Why was a social worker trying to push Clozapine at Elizabeth despite knowing it was against her wishes.

Why cant she have the therapy for complex PTSD provided now first BEFORE placement into the community – why cant this therapy be somewhere else that specialise in it as the environment should be peaceful and not a noisy acute ward.

Why is no-one taking any of this into account just ignoring my emails?

What support will be given to Elizabeth in the community for complex PTSD apart from just a support worker on release from hospital?

Why is so much money being spent on Cygnet that could benefit the local hospital and its wards providing better facilities.

Why isn’t there a nice rehab facility where patients can go to recover from their ordeals from being long term under an acute ward.

 

WHAT HAS BEEN TRIED AND FAILED:

Moti Villa – multiply abused

Phoenix House – Northampton –  no food at the weekend -could not manage on £30 pw. This care home costing £70000 per year refused to give the clozapine when I offered to collect resulting in two cases “Deprival of Medication Community Care” and  Dols Ct of Protection 2014.

Mays Cottage – assured shorthold tenancy – serious health and safety shortfall costing £277 pw  for accommodation only run by Inclusion Housing.  Constantly locked out of her room due to faulty key/lock – told to sleep on settee – care provided by Craegmoor (part of Priory Group).  No supervision at night leading to drugs supplied.  Facing eviction due to another resident constantly staying over from another scheme.

Bethlem Royal Hospital Nat Psychosis Unit – max levels of drugs – Clozapine (against wishes) mixed with Metformine – contra indicated.   Face covered in bruises, advanced declaration ignored, tachycardia developed on Clozapine.

Cambian – Wales –  displacing me with father as NR a priority,  supervised phone calls until challenged by solicitor – long drawn out tribunal – deprival of Xmas leave allowing c2 hrs home visit flanked by two nurses who would not leave her side.   Rest of family treated differently and allowed unsupervised home visits according to the files.

Cygnet – Stevenage and Becton – £12500pw

Stevenage – introduced Abilify raising it to 20mg just prior to release making her unstable.

Beckton – just put her back on the Abilify despite adverse reaction and introduced Chlorpromazine

Both Cygnet hospitals failed to do assessments on other diagnoses

Various Wards under Enfield MH – (Trent and Suffolk)  –  volatile environment where forced drugging/injections and ECT are taking place.  Noisy environment with alarms going off frequently- every 5 minutes so Elizabeth said on Trent Ward.  Fighting/ violence on the wards. Disturbed patients being locked away in the exclusion room.  Costing c£900 per night or thereabouts.

Elizabeth has had her phone stolen on one ward, £100 of calls racked up,  been forcibly injected and dragged into the seclusion room breaking her brand new slippers (because she threw some bags out of her room when a man entered bringing another patient to share).

Elizabeth is not on section any more and can go out which is some relief but she has been transferred between Suffolk and Trent Ward Edgware as she was been beaten up by another patient and hit around her head on Suffolk Ward.

Elizabeth was also told to choose her father as next of kin otherwise she would be thrown out on the street by Dr Choudhury who was RC (Suffolk Ward) all of a sudden he has left and Dr Bassit Hussain has now overall responsibility as Acting RC.   Dr Hussain is based at Enfield East Recovery Team 58 – 60 Silver Street Enfield where her care coordinator and manager are likewise based.

Acute wards are not the right environment for Elizabeth but neither should she just be dumped into the community by her care coordinator without adequate support and therapy being in place and I don’t just mean a support worker but ongoing therapy as Elizabeth who is a trauma/complex PTSD sufferer has not received any appropriate therapy in the nine weeks on acute wards and that applies to the past years in total going back to the beginning apart from four months of wonderful private care we provided.

Elizabeth is recovering from withdrawal from the powerful drug Abilify which caused more than one serious adverse reaction and apparently causes increased agitation and anxiety according to Dr Joanna Moncrieff.  She should therefore be sent somewhere peaceful to aid that recovery before just being dumped into the community.

SOLUTIONS:

I have identified at least three places (not local) where they specialise in programmes for PTSD sufferers that last several months – one year.  I strongly feel Elizabeth should not be immediately placed into the community. I strongly feel she should have the trauma therapy first.   If she is placed straight into the community then I feel she needs extensive therapy and support to begin with instead of being forced to take drugs within a supportive housing scheme.   Drugs are not recommended for PTSD but for Schizophrenia and Bi Polar but this is the problem despite huge evidence that Elizabeth suffers from PTSD certain Doctors (psychiatrists) refuse to budge on diagnosis.

I have supplied a list of placements to her care coordinator and written to various people in the CCG.  I have not  had one single reply to my emails.  I have written to the Deputy Leader of Quality who has likewise ignored my emails.  I have written to the Rt Hon Joan Ryan MP.  I have written to many people but no one can be bothered to respond.  Every time you try to phone the team are in meetings or on holiday/out of the office and do not bother to get back to you.

I have spoken to Dr Rashid from Trent Ward who said all they could provide was recovery house and this did not work out.  It is like banging your head against a brick wall.  The Home Treatment Team in Barnet discharged her to the recovery house and this did not work out and this prompted me to write to all the commissioners again in desperation.

I have written to:

MP – The Rt Hon Joan Ryan

Chief Executive of Barnet Enfield & Haringey MH Trust is  Maria Kane

Deputy Leader of Quality Margaret Southcote-Want

Director of Psychosis – Leigh Saunders

Acting RC – Dr Bassit Hussain

Manager – Enfield East Recovery Team – George Benyure

Care Coordinator Bola Quadri

I am saddened by the treatment of my daughter who came back from Australia well.  She has gone downhill because of neglect in the local area and desperately needs some intensive trauma therapy.   Here are the names of the CCG professionals I have desperately written to for help:

Piesse, John – Primary Care Development Manager John.Piesse@enfieldccg.nhs.uk]
Cc: Aubyn, Peppa – Head of Mental Health Commissioning <Peppa.Aubyn@enfieldccg.nhs.uk>; MacDougall, Graham – Director of Strategy and Partnerships <Graham.MacDougall@enfieldccg.nhs.uk>; Mazarelo, Jenny – Primary Care Strategy Programme Manager <Jenny.Mazarelo@enfieldccg.nhs.uk>; Sharp, Kim – Enfield Referral Service Manager <Kim.Sharp@enfieldccg.nhs.uk>

Only Mr Piesse has been helpful in responding to my email asking for help.  He has cared to write back.

The Deputy Leader of Quality (Margaret Southcote-Want) has said she is not responding to any further emails from me as they have to think of resourcing.

Maria Kane has not responded to my letter going back to 2015 when I complained about our shocking treatment when drug Clozapine was deprived and we were taken to Court of Protection.

TO THE COURT OF PROTECTION – I would praise you highly for your help that you have given me in the case of my father with Alzheimers and my daughter back in 2014.  If she had been forced to return back to the care home she would now be on a CTO – they would have made contact with family awkward, deprived home visits and continued with a drugging regime that left her barely able to walk or go out.  She had no food at the weekend and was expected to manage on just £30 pw.  They deprived the drug Clozapine when I had offered to go and collect it hundreds of miles away.  The deprival of Clozapine by my local area put her life at risk when not one professional was prepared to prescribe it locally despite the fact that the time limit for restarting the drug had not reached the deadline of 48 hours.  It was 25 hours and I made every attempt to get it locally.   We then had to endure visits for court purposes by nursing professionals infiltrated by the Home Treatment Team infiltrated by staff from Enfield Rehab and Recovery Team who were ordered to go in twos and report every word that mother said.   Not one single apology for this degrading treatment of a vulnerable patient.  I feel like naming the entire team and their nasty notes written behind our backs.   Whoever would have thought that I would have obtained the files for my records.

Under the private sector there is to a large degree honesty and accountability but not when it comes to Trusts and Councils, some of whom employ people who earn more than the Prime Minister herself.  How can this be right when you receive appalling treatment, some of which I have mentioned above.  They feel they can get away with writing what they like in the most nasty way, trying to label you as being mentally ill yourself and a vexatious complainant when all you are trying to do is get the right kind of help instead of having to say “I told you so”.    There is also a lot of bullying going on within these tax payer funded organisations.

I got a call one day from my younger daughter who said they were hiding in a cupboard terrified when the consultant psychiatrist Dr Imelda Duignan turned up with social worker probably to do an assessment.

I was so happy I sent my daughter away from this country where abuse is rife to experience proper care of a humane nature. I was overjoyed to get text messages from her to say she was in Dubai, she was in Australia etc.  I’m so glad she at least has some happy memories to fall back on.

When care is at fault and abuse has taken place in the community under a local scheme then the necessary therapy should automatically be provided.  I have proven that therapy works.   It is negligent of her team to ignore this fact.

It is negligent of the hospital to discharge her into the community without adequate support or threaten a vulnerable person with eviction as has been done.

It is negligent to ignore what is needed in terms of therapeutic care.

I have been accused of interfering by the care coordinator in respect of placements by “confusing” Elizabeth with other options.   To begin with – Elizabeth was given one option only – Emerald House – a scheme where there is high security and CCTV in the office on ground floor.  A scheme where no therapy is provided whatsoever.  Twelve other residents.

I feel Elizabeth should have choices and she has said so herself so there are two other potential placements yet to be seen locally which I cannot as yet comment on.

Thought should be given to the correct type of placement, bearing in mind Elizabeth may benefit for a while being away from the local area where there are bad memories provided she was to receive the correct treatment but certainly not in prison-like Cygnet or any other similar horrific institutions under the private sector costing a fortune of taxpayers money.

I identified Care Farms as she loves animals and wanted to do gardening as a job on her return from Australia.  One care farm is situated close to rest of family.  This is the kind of environment she benefitted from whilst away but I doubt this has been looked into.

I also identified Camphill Village Community Trust – various schemes, some situated close to rest of family – there are some not too far away from home and even if no on-site accommodation this could be sought and a live in support worker provided by way of direct payments.

All of these places above are suitable in that Elizabeth would not become isolated and would be supported and encouraged to participate in a natural therapeutic healthy environment where they produce organic food and learn new skills this is the right environment.  Bearing in mind Elizabeth suffers from chronic pain coming off the drug Abilify no way should she be forced to do too much just being in a therapeutic environment could lead to her health improving physically.

There are also recovery houses and hospitals that specialist specifically with abuse and PTSD/dissociation, details of which have been passed on to the hospital/care coordinator.    If just dumped into the community without the correct treatment this could lead to substantial problems and is neglectful.

When you complain and fight for the right type of care all you get is bullying from a team of professionals who stick together like glue and do not budge.  If mistakes are made no one is accountable. No-one wishes to take overall responsibility but the overall responsibility is with the Responsible Clinician Dr Bassit Hussain.  He is the person who responsible in every way and tried to say it was a team decision.  He is the one with sole responsibility.

I am not sure how commissioning works but I have written to the commissioners above as this requires specialist funding but it is a waste of money sending someone somewhere where they are not getting the correct treatment and whilst I agree that the acute ward is not the right place I feel that much thought should be given to where Elizabeth is placed in the community and I feel she should be given the opportunity to try out the Care Farms, Camphill community trust and see how that works out.  Even if there is no accommodation on site, a shared cottage with support worker could be provided so that she can participate in activities on the care farm.  The right environment is essential before being placed back into the local community which is far from peaceful being London and thought should be given to her becoming isolated and also bear in mind that she is suffering from symptoms of chronic pain through withdrawal so cannot do too much to start with.  A year away from the local area given the right support would avoid return to acute wards.

At the very least if Elizabeth is found accommodation within the local area funding should be put in place so she does not end up either on a local ward  or prison like private hospital such as Cygnet/Cambian but at one of the suggested placements that really do specialist with therapy for PTSD/trauma.

Over the Easter holiday I will be taking Elizabeth to church.  I will be helping her as much as possible get out from the ward and get her some nice food.

I would love to see her settled and getting on with her life. In desperation I am writing this blog which many people can identify with as I know of many cases where parents really do care and fight to get the right treatment.

Elizabeth said  “please do something – please change the system”  The only way things will ever be changed is if people speak out about it and if there is accountability and measures put in place to ensure that the weak and vulnerable are being heard.  In places like Cygnet you can become lost in the system as if someone is highly drugged then they cannot call for a solicitor for instance.  You as a relative cannot just appoint solicitors and as a result patients can be kept for years in these institutions.

One member of staff appointed to investigate my complaint said “I have no doubt institutional care is the right thing for Elizabeth” – this complete stranger went and passed the complaint to the department to whom the complaint was all about as she did not know the family well enough.

There would not be one single complaint from me if there was an open honest system of care such as open dialogue in my local area of Enfield.

I would not have any complaints if Elizabeth was given the trauma therapy treatment first and ongoing support for this.

I would not be complaining if there was recognition that things had gone wrong in the past but now this is the plan to put matters right.

MESSAGE TO DR HUSSAIN:

I do not agree with you Dr Hussain when you say “lets start afresh”.  In order to deal with the trauma you need to look back and see what happened and I have saved you time and effort by doing a SUMMARY OF CARE.  I hope you as RC with overall responsibility have read the summary of care.

MESSAGE TO THE TEAM

You may well wish Elizabeth to move off the ward but first of all she needs to be given the chance to try out the various schemes and other things like care farms.  I do not want to hear any more threats from anyone or comments like “you should not be here”.   Instead you should be asking the care coordinator and her manager and Dr Hussain “what the hell is going on” – just like Inspector Brown and my favourite blog of his.  Please do tell me what is going on in all aspects as communication is very important as I am sure you will agree.

I will end by saying HAPPY EASTER to those who celebrate it and I hope everyone enjoys the Easter Break.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday I attended a meeting at the ward with Elizabeth’s sister expecting to see RC – Dr Choudhury but we were told he had all of a sudden left Suffolk ward.  I was surprised by this as we were not informed prior to the meeting.    I asked if I could go in separately as there were private medical test results I wanted to discuss.  I emphasised I wanted them to check out her physical health as a result as she had been complaining of physical chronic pain.  I am hoping she will get the right support not just accommodation in the community as she is a trauma victim but unlike at Trent Ward when we met with Dr Rashid, we were not given much time at all to discuss.  I was told “you have only 5 minutes”.    I had taken the day off on holiday for just 5 minutes but luckily prior to the meeting I had copied lots of information that I would otherwise not have had time to discuss.  My first question was “who is the new RC”.   I was told that Dr Hussain from  Enfield East Recovery Team is now Acting RC.  It was a long time since I had seen him last at my house and I did not recognise him after all that time.  Present also was the care coordinator who was once coming into my home during the titration of Clozapine in 2014.  There was a new nurse, a student nurse and minute taker and the ward manager was not present.

It’s now been 9 weeks on various acute wards during – apart from at Cygnet Beckton where they put her back on Abilify,  Elizabeth has been withdrawing from this drug which has caused no end of problems.  She is drug free after 11 years but has been suffering withdrawal symptoms, stomach cramps, headaches, backache etc.   Trent Ward tried to discharge her into a recovery house for two weeks pending transfer to accommodation but Elizabeth was not at all happy about this and things did not work out so she is back on Suffolk Ward but she is at least allowed out alone.

On every ward staff have tried to persuade her to take drugs and each and every time she has refused.  There was the incident I was far from happy about where her slippers broke and brought these along to the meeting.  Forcibly injected when she threw bags out of her room,  Elizabeth was staring into space looking traumatised when I arrived in the evening.  I criticised this course of action as over a four month period away staying with MH professionals in their home, travelling abroad with lots of changes how comes they coped without forcibly injecting or drugging her.

There was an incident where Elizabeth was attacked leading to her transfer to Edgware Trent Ward.  Elizabeth has phoned me several times in distress as it is not always peaceful.  She said of the other ward that every five minutes the alarms were going off and it was difficult to sleep.   Whilst I feel she is in the wrong environment she has needed to stabilise coming off a powerful anti-psychotic drug that did not agree with her and I feel she cannot just be dumped into the community without ongoing trauma therapy.   It is recommended in a report for court purposes that she should have intensive trauma therapy but this has never been provided and surely the best place this can only be done is in a hospital environment but somewhere where they have nice grounds and where patients are not treated like prisoners.

They seem to be going down the route of placement in the community and Elizabeth has been to see just one placement but did not like the area.  There is another one lined up for her to view.

I was accused of confusing Elizabeth by identifying several other placements or hospitals where they offer intensive therapy but surely she should have that choice. It is for her to decide and she certainly has a mind of her own. I would ideally like to see her get the right support and therapy which could be a year programme but I do not want to see her in a prison-like setting like some of these private hospitals.    No-one commented on these suggestions which I had previously brought to a meeting there.

It must be costing a fortune if a locked ward is £900 per day and on an acute ward how can anyone get better when they are around others who are also disturbed.  I’m pleased now the weather has improved Elizabeth is allowed out.   Elizabeth said tonight she needs therapy, not drugs which I would fully agree.

Elizabeth has told me she has now got an advocate which is good news.

After my 5 minutes at the meeting, Elizabeth was called in on her own for some length of time.  Elizabeth had been complaining of stomach pains and I asked that she be thoroughly examined in terms of physical health.   Elizabeth’s sister and I were then called in for the remainder of the meeting.   I have advised Elizabeth to go and look at the placements but was accused by the CC of confusing her by providing details of other placements but I felt that choices should be given and not all my suggestions were local but some provided specialist therapy.  The final decision is of course Elizabeth’s but it is wrong for only one scheme to be offered for consideration and Elizabeth was not sure about the area it was situated in.

After the meeting we all went to the café on the hospital grounds for lunch. It was a beautiful day and Elizabeth was very happy to see her sister who has now moved away from the local area.  I then took Elizabeth to town for  shopping and then dropped her back to the ward.

Today I have spoken to Elizabeth and she sounded happy.  She has been out alone for a walk and went back to the café.

Tomorrow I will take Elizabeth out somewhere.

Sunday if she feels OK I have tickets for the R D Laing film “Mad to be Normal”.

Elizabeth told me they drug tested her today.  Elizabeth had only been to the café and to one shop.   I suppose they have to do such things occasionally but Elizabeth was not impressed.  I doubt she would ever take illicit drugs now she is drug free – she is quite specific in her views about drugs.

Mention of drugs was made by Dr Hussain but what drugs exactly – no doubt anti-psychotics but none have worked as Elizabeth is “treatment resistant”.  With diagnosis in doubt and police investigation, Elizabeth has said in her own words “I need therapy not drugs” .  I would quite agree.  We have seen how well therapy worked over the past four months when she stayed with professionals through “working to recovery” and there was no need to drug her during her stay.   Coming off these powerful chemicals that contain ingredients such as poisonous dyes and aspartame can take time for the body to adjust but I know a lot of people who make a full recovery but this can take at least 1 – 2 years.    There really does need to be more help for people like Elizabeth not just forced drugging for the rest of their life.   There needs to be better facilities provided for this purpose in the UK.  I understand from Elizabeth her psychologist has mentioned about her taking drugs and Elizabeth was not happy with this suggestion quite rightly.

 

 

Elizabeth has been on various wards as you know for just over six weeks.  An acute ward is not a good place to withdraw from psychiatric drugs but neither is the family home. There needs to be facilities for this provided.  It is not peaceful on an acute ward.  However having said that, when someone is a trauma victim, there needs to be ongoing therapy and when I checked out what was on offer in a couple of future possible placements I was not too happy.  These specialist facilities are not in the local area.  Anyway, I telephoned the recovery house to tell them that Elizabeth is withdrawing from Abilify.  I was astonished that the Responsible Clinician thought that she should be recovered after a short space of time so I had to point out to him that it took much longer to recover and can take a year or so.  When someone is coming off drugs such as this they should automatically have the counselling/psychotherapy.

Yesterday I got the news that Elizabeth was being discharged but I did not agree with the decision as much as I wanted her off the acute ward, I felt that first of all Elizabeth should be sent somewhere where they specialise in PTSD (not Cygnet!) but somewhere where they offer proper care like I provided for four months in Scotland and in Australia.

As a former colleague of Dr R D Laing told me, he never used drugs on patients and it is lazy to use that approach in my opinion.  If psychotherapy was used together with other therapies then as I have seen through the wonderful care provided by http://www.working-to-recovery, it is possible to get well again –  I must emphasise the term “well” – Elizabeth feels unwell physically because she is withdrawing from a powerful drug and not because she has any psychiatric labels.

Getting back to the discharge of Elizabeth from Trent Ward, I had already contacted the recovery house – at such recovery houses people are all on prescribed drugs and there are as many as 12 others there short term.   I got that feeling Elizabeth was feeling anxious about such a move and had identified a smaller ward for neurological rehab on the site of Edgware Hospital but when I mentioned about this we were told a referral was necessary and the consultant psychiatrist brushed Elizabeth’s wishes aside.   Anyway for six weeks Elizabeth has refused every drug on offer locally and at Edgware which was not the correct environment either when going through drug withdrawal.  No-one warns you of how difficult it is to withdraw off these drugs or the fact there are no facilities for psychiatric drug withdrawal.   I am proud of the fact Elizabeth has said no.  Coming off these drugs has enabled her to speak up for herself much better.  Anyway, the recovery house was situated not so far away from where I live and much easier to travel to than Edgware.  I had a call from Elizabeth when she arrived there to  bring her some things but I had not noticed she had tried to contact me as I was busy driving and finding where to park.   She was in a foul mood on arrival.    I had previously warned the recovery house that Elizabeth suffered from PTSD.  I therefore did not stay long but today arranged for a friend to visit instead, bringing her mobile phone and other possessions.   When this friend got there it was obvious that Elizabeth was still distressed.    Then I got a call  from the recovery house to say they were not letting her back in.  I was a long distance away from home at the time and it was awful to get this news as I could not help in any way.  I made several phone calls to the team but you can never get through as they are always out at meetings and then they do not ring you back or write.  Elizabeth is now back again in the local area and on a local ward (Suffolk).  The kind of place I would like to see her recover from these drugs is somewhere peaceful as at times I get calls from Elizabeth who is distressed and I think that environment is extremely important and especially as I have proven this works – going away to a peaceful natural environment most people could get well.  The kind of environment I am talking about is Scotland and then Australia through “Working-to-Recovery”.   This costs a fraction of what some private sector wards are charging.   Elizabeth stayed at recovery houses in Australia and all the time she was getting better that is until she returned to my local area which is not what I would have wished.   We don’t seem to have any recovery houses of this nature in the UK.

I think going away from the local area to somewhere quiet and peaceful was the answer and receiving the correct therapy.  Staying at recovery houses, working with international MH professionals and peer supporters was the best solution in an environment where no one pushed psychiatric drugs.  We need more of this type of recovery house as there is nothing like this in the UK.  The care provided worked and the UK needs to take an very different approach to that currently adopted under mainstream care as this approach has worked for Elizabeth who came back well from Australia but such care needs to be continued for at least a year in the cases of abuse victims.

I have identified several specialist centres that deal with trauma/PTSD and who offer therapy but why are there not more?  these are not local but it is crucial that counselling/psychotherapy is provided and not just accommodation in the community.  I have emailed everyone about this today as something needs to be done urgently especially as a locked ward is costing a lot of money.  I would prefer Elizabeth to stay in a nice hotel or health spa where there is a gym and swimming pool and nice facilities quite frankly.

I do not want Elizabeth to remain on that acute ward much longer but I want her 100% well before being discharged into the community and I am going to discuss all this with the Consultant Psychiatrist  RC – Dr K Choudhury on Thursday this week.

 

Members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence (APPG for PDD) met at Westminster on 15 March in order to lobby Public Health England for a national 24 hour helpline to help patients withdraw from opioid painkillers, tranquilisers and antidepressants. Parliamentarians who attended included Paul Flynn MP (chair), Sir Oliver Letwin MP,…

via MPs and peers present case for national prescribed drug helpline to Public Health England — APPG for Prescribed Drug Dependence

So far in a short space of time Elizabeth has been on Hooper Ward at Cygnet Beckton, transferred to Suffolk Ward, Chase Farm but has had to be transferred to Edgware Community Hospital (Trent Ward) as she was hurt by another patient on the local ward. Being on an acute ward is hardly a good place especially when you are withdrawing from a powerful anti-psychotic.  Many times staff have tried to offer the drugs but Elizabeth cannot metabolise them and has said no.  The most she has had is the occasional Lorazepam but Cygnet Beckton put her back on a drug (Abilify) that caused serious problems and then introduced Chlorpromazine at a low dosage but why put her back on the same drug that is known to cause agitation and increased anxiety.  Since coming home from Australia and experiencing wonderful care Elizabeth came back on 2.5mg of Abilify as international MH professionals needed to work with her properly.   What a difference when she came home –  however Elizabeth was revealing a lot of things that had been bottled up for many years and there needed to be ongoing therapy but nothing was on offer.  The local area would not hold particularly good memories for Elizabeth and I was most concerned about her return.  One of the main reasons for her distress was being forced to take drugs for life but even on 2.5mg I knew this was a powerful drug and did not wish to reduce this whilst living at home.  Instead I had put her name down for Dr Joanna Moncrieff’s drug withdrawal programme RADAR which was due to commence in my area in the summer.

My daughter Elizabeth spent her 30th Birthday ot the flagship Cygnet Beckton Hospital which I have been told costs around £12500 per week but offers very restrictive care.  Even on her Birthday Elizabeth was not allowed to have time with us alone.  There was a member of staff listening to every word, restrictive contact -we were not allowed on the ward at all.   Cygnet Beckton is the flagship of all Cygnets and was visited by HRH Princess Anne (one of my favourites of the Royal Family).  Princess Anne probably came away with a wonderful impression on the surface of Cygnet Hospital Beckton, however, I had come across Cygnet before at their Stevenage Branch.  I recently took part in a conference workshop “Least Restrictive Care” at a conference held at the Royal College of GPs.  However I would call this prison.  Prison because it is restrictive care in the highest degree.  It costs a lot of money to send someone to Cygnet Hospital – people will be shocked to hear that in the current crisis of underfunding to the NHS I have been advised it costs £12500 per week.   That is a lot of money.   A friend of mine has someone there on a Section 37/41.  They must be raking in the profits as you can well imagine.  The young person is suspected of having a learning disability and with the right care could be thriving in the community but is being drugged hugely.  This needs looking into without any doubt.

As for Elizabeth the minute I posted on Twitter how much Cygnet costs £12500 per week or thereabouts, she was immediately released within one afternoon.  It would seem like this is something that certain people would like to be kept quiet – after all this is public funding and going into private sector care, whilst services and the NHS wards locally are suffering.    Now what exactly has Cygnet done for Elizabeth?:  nothing apart from drug.  For this money they should have looked at the other diagnoses.

At Cygnet Stevenage, I can honestly say nothing, other than the staff were very nice but they are being paid huge sums of money to be nice.   Cygnet Stevenage made my daughter unstable – in the absence of the RC (Responsible Clinician) someone was prescribing drugs.  She was looking so good having come off the powerful drug Clozapine and then they went and introduced Abilify which produced some of the worst symptons we had ever seen. They started her on 10mg and she was talking in a weird manner and her looks declined.  They then increased the Abilify to 20mg just before her release.  I took Elizabeth off this chemical of Clozapine that contains talc and aspartame because her tongue was going to the back of her throat.  A condition called Neuroleptic  Malilgnant Syndrome was brought to my attention.,    We had no help or support with my local area of ENFIELD who had taken us to court in 2014 to sever contact and deprive liberty.  How ruthless can you get that a drug is deprived such as Clozapine to force return a vulnerable patient back to a care home Stepping Stones (Phoenix House) where it is documented in files she had no food at the weekend.  She needs to manage her money better – £30 a week given to Elizabeth.  She could not manage as she had been on a lot of drugs and a patient at the shocking private Sector Hospital Cambion where they gave her allocated times when she could have supervised phone calls.   All documented in the files.  All this care was being paid for I suspect by ENFIELD who have a system of “integrated care” in Enfield Council.  I do not think much of the system at all.   What they need to adopt instead is a system of Open Dialogue and we tried so hard to join this as it is supposed to be open to everyone but no one bothered to refer us despite repeated requests.  Why on earth should it matter if you have a team involved locally.  At the time we met the criteria as Elizabeth did not wish to have anything to do with the MH and told her GP what she thought of the system.  The good thing about sending Elizabeth away was that she came back more able to speak up for herself.

CURRENTLY RIGHT NOW:

Elizabeth who has returned from paradise –  “I want to be free Mum” – well I set her free and provided care that cost me money – substantial money to make up for her wasted life of being drugged to the hilt under the local area of ENFIELD.  This money that I spent was nothing compared with what is being wasted on care that does not work under the system.   One of the main areas of upset for Elizabeth revealed when I took her off  Clozapine was the wasted years of her life.   Elizabeth was never a lazy person – she wanted to be a chef.  She had ambitions in her life.  Then along came a GP who prescribed Prozac.  I have since proven she cannot metabolise the drugs – psychiatric drugs and these have in the past been given in huge doses.  Prozac changed her beyond recognition and led to hospitalisation and a downward spiral.

I can understand why drugs have been given in huge doses and this is it is convenient – because someone cannot talk freely when drugged up.  They cannot reveal what has really happened to them under the shocking care of the UK and that would put any diagnosis in question.  Everyone is trying to protect themselves.  No-one wishes to lose their jobs.      Even though I am not a Catholic by faith and respect all religions, I have to take note of what Father John has to say in his church services which are really touching on every day life.  He says something to the effect that you have to stand above and not worship the celebrity culture or look up to politicians and by standing above that means coming out of your comfort zone and in my case that means being outspoken about the injustice going on to mental health patients in the UK.    Lets face it there are very few politicians who could care less about patients under the mental health.   There is pure evil and greed going on right now in the UK and I am pleased to be in a position to expose this because I am an honest person at the end of the day but I feel this is the right thing to do.  Some many people are taken in but I have done a lot of research into all of this.  If everyone was to expose and be outspoken there would not be this mess but understandably many are patients are too ill to stand up for their rights and many carers are too worn down and afraid to, their sons and daughters having been made disabled due to their rotten treatment.  How many are locked away right now in hospitals and care homes, not allowed contact with their families.  Only allowed supervised visits.  It is control not care and abuse of human rights.   There are people making vast amounts of money – (see the blog by Finola Moss).  This is a ruthless Government who turns a blind eye on the suffering of the disabled and mental health patients, concentrating instead on their pathetic stigma campaigns that involve major charities but this distorts the fact that there is a silent holocaust going on and that there are no decent facilities and it is expected for patients take powerful mind altering drugs for the rest of their lives and where are the facilities to allow them to safely withdraw from these drugs? – the answer is there are none and this is what is needed most of all.   Mr Burstow could not deny when I pointed out that many people under the MH system have talents – they are highly intelligent or artistic – he agreed with me and given the right opportunity and care these people could be an asset to society.   I believe STIGMA is caused by none other than a GOVERNMENT approved SYSTEM of “care” that needs complete review as it is not working or protecting the weak and vulnerable.

It is not for me to judge but God will do so one day and that goes for any professional who chooses to just go along with things for the sake of their jobs but I have to say there is a lot of bullying going on and focus should be given to those at the top who do nothing.

It would be convenient for Police to close a case on Elizabeth simply because she was so drugged up at the time.   I was so annoyed with them I said I would be sending the files to the very top.  No way should Elizabeth be ignored and because of this they are now taking note as I refuse to have matters dismissed.

TODAY:

Elizabeth is on Trent Ward Edgware Community Hospital – a fair distance from home.  She is a voluntary patient.  Elizabeth never wanted to take drugs and that is the case of many MH patients.  She is on an acute ward full of other disturbed patients who are drugged.  Elizabeth has been without antipsychotic drugs for 27 days now.  She is suffering from withdrawal symptoms but my local area of Barnet Enfield and Haringey  MH Trust have allowed section 2 to expire  but she really needs to be somewhere quieter.  After visiting some of the most fabulous parts of the world including Cannes, Carcasonne, Marseille, Paris, Lyon, Australia, Dubai, Scotland all in four months, Elizabeth needs to be given the right kind of care which I have proven has worked. Some of the staff keep trying to make out she has Schizophrenia – this is not the correct diagnosis in Elizabeth’s case.     RUBBISH! because serious things have happened to her under care and I will do ANYTHING to get that correct care in place for her right now.

I would like Elizabeth off that acute ward into somewhere quieter and more therapeutic.  She is a voluntary patient.  I have written to all the CCQ commissioners.  I have written to the Chief Executive Officer Maria Kane, I have written to the Deputy Leader of Quality Margaret Southcote Want but all I want is for my daughter to get a decent placement with ongoing psychotherapy in an area who are spending a fortune of public money  on Cygnet and it is costing £900 per NIGHT a least on a locked acute ward which is un-therapeutic for Elizabeth.    Everyone should look to whom is funding this “care” and how better this could be spent so that people like Elizabeth can actually get better.  I have proven it is absolutely possible and that cost me a fraction of the price of an acute ward or Cygnet but Elizabeth felt so well she no longer wanted to take any drugs for a condition she clearly has not got.   I know this as being on a small portion of drugs revealed that something happened to her under local care and for many years had been concealed on drugs as high as Quetiapine 800mg and on top of this Chlorpromazine, Haloperidal and Lorazepam.  I am not impressed with this past “treatment” designed to make someone ill on a local ward in ENFIELD.

Before anyone wrongly tries to make out Elizabeth has no capacity apparently she has currently requested a dental appointment, a Chiropodist appointment and said that her liver hurts but then she is going through “hell” in terms of withdrawal pains coming off a powerful drug called Abilify at 2.5 mg.  ELILZABETH HAS BEEN DRUG FREE FOR 27 DAYS NOW but I would like to see her placed somewhere more peaceful as she is starting to feel  distressed and I want the focus on those at the top of my local area who do not respond properly to letters, who have no excuses and who are earning a huge chunk of public money – these are the people above the law who should be scrutinised.

The specialist care I think Elizabeth should have is not situated in this area.  It is a year long programme for abuse victims.  I have seen such programmes in York. What care is there in the community?  It seems nationwide there is a problem and there would not be if money was being spent in the right direction and instead of say Cygnet on the NHS and services then everyone would be happy.

Everything is a shambles but I will not stop here. The public must question why – exactly why isnt this not being reported in the press right now?   This is not the kind of news that certain people wish the public to know about and the public should quite rightly question what is going on under the mental health system as this is where the money is being wasted most of all so I believe and the bulk of it appears to have been privatised and as documented the private care is no improvement but costs vast sums of money.

 

Sadly Elizabeth who has returned from a trip of a lifetime to Scotland, Europe and Australia is back on a local ward (Suffolk Ward) within Chase Farm Hospital.

 

I did not want my daughter to come back to this area (where I have lived all my life) because we have received the most dreadful treatment and bullying by members of staff who think they are truly above the law and above God.

 

I wanted better for her and when an opportunity of a lifetime came up through http://www.working to recovery I seized this opportunity to provide some happy and memorable experiences for Elizabeth.   Thanks to a team of MH professionals who take a very different approach she has travelled extensively and seen the most beautiful parts of the world – a far cry from the horrific institutions of the UK where she has sadly ended up.    For once, she received humane, decent care costing a fraction of the price of say Cygnet for instance at £12500 pw.

 

After what I have seen today on the ward slightly after visiting hours I would compare these sights to Winterbourne and I believe that any inspectors should come unannounced to wards such as where Elizabeth currently is  – Suffolk Ward Chase Farm Hospital, The Ridgeway, ENFIELD.    Elizabeth was transferred to this ward without hardly any notice from Cygnet Beckton – supposedly the “flagship” of Cygnet’s hospitals.  Security is tight under Cygnet Hospitals. Patients are restricted with regards to possessions they are allowed and visitors are not left alone.   Everything is watched and recorded just like prison.   In contrast wards at Enfield whilst they lack facilities compared to Cygnet who have a gym etc, possessions can go missing as patients come into each others rooms. Elizabeth has been very generous giving away her possessions and she shows her kindness towards everyone especially the weaker patients  Under section I doubt whether patients get much exercise and fresh air and Elizabeth has said it is stressful being on the ward cooped up it is certainly very noisy with people being locked in the seclusion room, banging on doors to let them out and shouting in distress.  A section is for assessment but pretty much used as an excuse for forced drugging.    Elizabeth has been forcibly injected today and looked very traumatised as if she has not already had  enough trauma caused by abuse suffered under care itself.

 

Going away and travelling with wonderful kind MH professionals showed Elizabeth there was kindness within this evil world where the disabled and so called “mentally ill” get treated like dirt by Government controlled “mainstream” so called care if you can call it this.  The disabled are treated like objects rather than people and there is much abuse going on within the system of mental health care –  I would call it abuse not care.  THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WINTERBOURNE.  Tonight as I had not heard from Elizabeth so I telephoned her – she has been drug free for four days and was doing OK but “professionals” nurses/doctors whoever couldn’t leave it this way as their policy is drugging – forced drugging and ECT is mentioned on the section papers.

On Suffolk Ward Chase Farm Hospital some time today Elizabeth was forcibly injected. 

I especially went up to the ward tonight as soon as I heard.   I work and do not get home until late I had previously been allowed to bring things up for Elizabeth slightly after visiting hours by some nice members of staff however what I saw tonight was absolute chaos with patients looking traumatised whilst staff – temporary bank staff  –  with rubber gloves were trying to deal with one traumatised patient who would not leave her position by the door.   I was really distressed to listen to what other patients had to say about their treatment and to see how upset everyone was.   I was not the only visitor slightly after hours on the ward to witness the shocking sights seen tonight where someone had to be dragged off and I could imagine what Elizabeth went through to be forcibly drugged, pinned down no doubt by members of “nursing” staff.      What degrading treatment. There were only about three members of staff on duty and another patient crying out for attention.  The other day I heard someone very distressed in the seclusion room.  Staff did not want me or the other visitors to witness what was going on tonight and we were ordered off the ward but first of all I wanted them to take a copy of the ADVANCED DECLARATION Elizabeth had signed some time ago.  No forced drugging – no experimentation.   A section is for an assessment but when Police are involved in an investigation right now I have specifically told them on Suffolk Ward Chase Farm that Elizabeth should NOT be drugged up.

 

When I got to the ward Elizabeth was standing there watching what was going in the corridor along with several other patients  –  I could not leave anyway because this other patient was right in front of the door.   Elizabeth like many other people that come under the shocking mental health care system of the UK have suffered extensive abuse or trauma and are simply not given the right kind of care.  I would describe the mental health care system in general as cruel and abusive.      Elizabeth looked so traumatised tonight by the degrading treatment she had been given today.   I was very upset to hear about this when I got home.   So this is what goes on in mental health institutions not just Suffolk Ward Chase Farm but all over the UK whether private or NHS but this is being kept quiet and not spoken about.

Elizabeth’s Responsible Clinician is Dr Kumal Choudhury who has not bothered to return my calls.

Perhaps by drugging Elizabeth they are trying to cover up things with the current Police investigation in order that she cannot talk to the Police.    Some very serious things happened to Elizabeth under the MOTI VILLA SCHEME based in one of the best parts of Enfield along the Ridgeway and I have the files to prove it.  It is only now after ten years and having received humane care that Elizabeth has started to talk about it.  HOW CONVENIENT TO DRUG HER UP RIGHT NOW.  Be sure though that there are enough witnesses who know about what happened there.    I am still waiting for you – the Police to come round to my house and show you the records I have kept.  You did not investigate properly did you?  Perhaps the view is why bother when this is only a MH patient – who is going to find out – lets cover it up or perhaps that person was so drugged up at the time and did not have the ability to talk effectively.  Perhaps this is the reason why Elizabeth is being forcibly drugged right now so as to cover up what happened to her under ENFIELD MENTAL HEALTH’S CARE.  

There was a ward meeting yesterday at Chase Farm SUFFOLK WARD,  including RC Dr K Choudhury and others including the same care coordinator who came into my home back in 2014 when Enfield deprived the Clozapine to Elizabeth.   This is the one who placed Elizabeth at a scheme at Mays Cottage where she was constantly locked out of her room due to a faulty lock and offered drugs.    Even care provider Craegmoor recognised she needed more care and support.  In other words Elizabeth was forever given the “cheapest option” when it came to care and that meant no therapy no appropriate care and there is nothing good like OPEN DIALOGUE under Enfield.  It is an area where there is no accountability and where plenty of money is spent in the wrong direction.  It should be going to improve the NHS care rather than in the hands of private sector.  It should be spent on care in the community to help people live independently but not under the CONTROL like Elizabeth was under being marched to constant safeguarding meetings where she was prompted to tick boxes stating that myself and others abused her by total strangers to the family.

I would describe the scenes I saw tonight as “hell on earth” and very upsetting.    I think it is extremely cruel that up and down the country behind the closed doors of institutions and care homes this cruelty is still going still since Winterbourne.

Yesterday’s hospital meeting was about placements for Elizabeth as none of us want her in this hospital for a long time – she had been doing OK drug free on the ward.   Elizabeth cried when she saw her father attend the meeting. She just looked numb tonight.  We all know now what happened under MOTI VILLA and now we cannot accept the diagnosis of Schizophrenia.    We believe the correct diagnosis to be PTSD and also there are other mentions of learning disability.  It is recommended for Elizabeth to have intensive trauma therapy but nothing like this has EVER been provided by this DREADFUL area of ENFIELD where I unfortunately live.

Politicians MUST know what is going on within these institutions – patients were locked up, not allowed out to exercise – nothing much to do all day – the environment itself is totally in-therapeutic.   Judging by the comments I heard tonight there needs to be inspectors visiting after hours and interviewing the patients on the wards regularly.  I am sure judging by what I heard tonight inspectors would hear a lot from some very distressed patients.

Elizabeth has gone from paradise to hell.  However hell was never that far away as she regained her memory 0f extensive abuse that she suffered back on 2010, after being drugged excessively under Enfield mh for so many years. Instead of receiving counselling, she has received drugs and excessive amounts of drugs on the shocking wards under ENFIELD MENTAL HEALTH.

 

May God judge this evil treatment of the weak and vulnerable throughout the UK that is being kept quiet.

 

I cant be bothered to pick up a newspaper these days.  You are more likely to hear the truth on a blog like this on the true reality of how disabled people are treated.    I bet when I post this to the leading politicians I get no response – just a wall of silence.

There are people earning a lot of money out of the likes of my daughter right now and instead of helping them they are making them ill and disabled.

Today i have written today to Maria Kane, Chief Executive Officer who in the past has responded that the care in Enfield is  “EXCELLENT” however she seems to have gone silent right now.  I have written to her copying in the DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF QUALITY MARGARETE SOUTH-COTE WANT who has done nothing to satisfy us with her response to our complaint.   When we read the shocking files full of defamatory comments against myself and others in the family and close friends we asked for an amendment in the files as this was very misleading but this could not be done so she wrote back offering these comments  “I do not agree that I am aggressive”.   I would have preferred an apology from the staff members themselves particularly those who tried to label me up as being mentally ill and in need of a MHA assessment.   In my local area of Enfield anything goes so it would seem.   They answer their own complaints.  They try to cover their backs in every way they can there is no accountability under ENFIELD MH.

We have a complaint going right the way back currently being dealt with by the PHSO LG Ombudsman.  The complaint is not just from myself but others in the family feel the same way particularly now we can see that the diagnosis for Elizabeth is INCORRECT –  a trauma victim who has suffered severe abuse under MOTI VILLA going back to 2010.

At yesterday’s meeting the rest of the family were told that the only way a placement would be given to Elizabeth would be if I was displaced as Next of Kin.  Here we go again – I am happy for Mr Bevis to be next of kin but I thought that under a Section it was NEAREST RELATIVE –  which happens to be me.    I just want Elizabeth out of Suffolk Ward where tonight I saw and heard the most terrible things.

Where I would like Elizabeth to go is somewhere where she gets the intensive trauma therapy and not just drugs.  It does say in a report she has PTSD and she is an abuse victim – abused by others under MOTI VILLA and now they want to drug her to cover up the evidence.   Don’t worry I have plenty of evidence to produce to the Police myself.

If huge sums of money were not being wasted then there would be more funds to help people in the community and I have no regrets at all on taking her away from an area where abuse is rife.  I am fed up with hearing that there is no money – need to raise council tax etc. etc. especially when in ENFIELD some of those at the top earn more than the Prime Minister so I have read.

There is only one who has more power –  that is God.    No politicians seem interested in mental health issues and it is near impossible to get justice for those who are being abused.

I am very pleased that I set up this blog to highlight the abusive treatment of MH patients and those with learning disability for all to see.    Judging by the responses I receive I am so happy.  I am sad that this abuse is so widespread and to hear how others have been affected.

I will visit Elizabeth tomorrow and I will inform you all whether she has been forcibly drugged again and I would like as many people as possible to know that my daughter is currently on SUFFOLK WARD CHASE FARM HOSPITAL THE RIDGEWAY ENFIELD MIDDX EN2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Under mental health care, physical health is so often overlooked.  If there are any doubts or conflict of opinion as to diagnoses everyone sticks together.  Suddenly the team have dropped the term “chronic treatment resistant” for Elizabeth but they like to stick with Schizophrenia and the family now know for sure this is incorrect.  When someone comes off a drug you find out as you get to hear all that has happened and if things have happened under “care” then I can why people like my daughter are drugged to the hilt.  I do not accept and never will that Elizabeth is mentally ill.

If it is proven that someone cannot metabolise the drugs or else that they have suffered injury as I have seen documented in the files, then this too is ignored.

Care plans can conveniently omit reports done by professionals for court and commissioned by the Local Mental Health Trust which dispute the diagnosis of Schizophrenia.

I am often asked what diagnoses does Elizabeth have like yesterday, whilst at the dentist and I give them all of the diagnoses mentioned as I do not dismiss what other professionals state, unlike the team.

Yesterday was not a relaxing day at all as Elizabeth had complained of bad toothache and  after two weeks of this, told me she had broken a tooth but had decided to keep this quiet for some reason.  Communication has never been easy for Elizabeth since she was a child.   Elizabeth would tend to avoid rather than deal with situations.  I had hoped this would just be a phase looking back to school days where there were occasions when she would play truant to avoid certain subjects.  Elizabeth has not told us everything but she was openly discussing painful issues whilst living at home.  At college looking back she struggled to attend exams/appointments and complete coursework but this was around the time when, unknown to me, her GP had prescribed Prozac which is a highly dangerous drug and now I understand her behaviour at the time now that I have accurate results from the worlds leading experts in Holland.

One of the diagnoses is Aspergers and there is nowhere in my local area at present  that gives diagnosis in this specialist area.   The very fact that there is any possibility after all this time since the report dated 2009 that a diagnosis is wrong I doubt anything will be fairly dealt with as no one will wish to admit any errors.

On hearing that Elizabeth was in pain with toothache, I telephoned 111 to try and get emergency help for her.  This was quite frustrating as they would not deal with me and insisted on speaking to Elizabeth who was not with me.  Elizabeth’s carer had taken her the other day to a dentist  who identified some problems that needed to be addressed but nothing could be dealt with yesterday apart from Xray.   It was a  nightmare yesterday as they wanted to speak not to me but to Elizabeth.  Eventually we got this appointment which meant travelling a fair distance.  I was not looking forward to this as Elizabeth can suffer from bouts of anxiety and agitation, all caused by the drug Abilify. She was never like this before and  Dr Moncrieff told me that this can cause agitation and anxiety.  It certainly does not work that is for sure.   I have to say for a pharmaceutical company, Otsuka have taken an interest in my complaint and have not been dismissive of the side effects/adverse reactions I reported unlike the FDA when I complained to them.  Otsuka even wrote to me again taking interest.  It is good that they are interested and they stated that this drug should only be given for a short term and is licensed for Bi Polar and Schizophrenia.  The question is why is the consultant psychiatrist not taking this on board when I have pointed out these facts.   Well Elizabeth has Aspergers and PTSD mentioned in the files which I cannot ignore but the only thing that has been changed is the tablet is now white, since I complained about the toxic red dye that causes tumours in mice and rats –  Elizabeth told us she wished this chemical to be reduced down to 5mg and this may reduce the anxiety as we never saw this when she was on nothing at home.

Anyway the journey to Central London was OK until we arrived and Elizabeth was clinging to me all the time stating she felt dizzy and had headaches.   She flatly refused to walk down the road leading to the Imperial Hospital due to a large crane situated along this road. I then had to get a cab who had to drive a long way round and when we arrived thanks to Westminster Council who had failed to update information, the post code we had been given was completely wrong.  By this time Elizabeth had had enough and wanted to go back home.  We had to walk around to try and find someone to give us directions. Eventually we arrived but still Elizabeth was still not happy and we had to wait for a while –  I was worried she would not go in.

There was a time when going out was easy and pleasant but now you do not know what to expect regarding Elizabeth and also sometimes she flatly refuses to go anywhere because it is just too much for her.

On these drugs Elizabeth has suffered severe side effects especially on Clozapine which psychiatrists see as some kind of wonder drug.  This drug is made from talc and aspartame and when I told the previous consultant psychiatrist  about this and “would he like his relative to be on this chemical” I received no answer.

Anyway, it now looks like Elizabeth will have to go into a dental hospital regarding her wisdom teeth eventually.

Dental care is just one area of physical health that is overlooked under mental health, the main concern being prescribing mind altering drugs.  If patients were offered endocrinology appointments this could avoid many falling under mental health care and that goes too for these P450 metabolising tests that only cost me £50.  If proper tests were given for Aspergers for instance then this could avoid shortage of beds under mental health as once identified those concerned could have proper treatment and that treatment may well not be huge quantities of mind altering drugs.  How can anyone get better with this treatment and it is no wonder the beds are overflowing.   Much can also be improved if more support was given to families in the community.   We had no support in two years and this was saving a lot of money rather than admission to care home or hospital.

Once on these mind altering drugs no one is willing to help take someone off them and there are no facilities to go in apart from illicit drugs.   In the file reports I can see certain psychiatrists recommend drugging for life yet this is clearly against drug manufacturer’s recommendations and detrimental to physical health.   What kind of doctors who are supposed to do no harm are they to recommend the long term drugging of patients at the expense of their physical health.

 

 

Elizabeth is now in a community scheme. The residents are very nice but my concerns are for Elizabeth because she is being forced to attend meeting after meeting – Safeguarding meetings which is against her wishes. She has not had one advocate present so far which is appalling. Nothing has been provided at all for her to do in all […]

via MESSAGE FROM ELIZABETH — Psychiatric Abuse UK

Elizabeth is now in a community scheme.   The residents are very nice but my concerns are for Elizabeth because she is being forced to attend meeting after meeting – Safeguarding meetings which is against her wishes.   She has not had one advocate present so far which is appalling.   Nothing has been provided at all for her to do in all this time just like at home.    I drew to the attention of the scheme manager today the fact that Elizabeth needs help with cooking and storage of food.  Just like in the other scheme I have had to throw lots of food away and I think that this is a health hazard and I bet no mention of this is being made at the safeguarding meetings.

In her own words this is what Elizabeth has to say about it:

“I’m getting lots of meetings.  I wish I didn’t have all those meetings.  I don’t want to go to meetings every week. I definitely don’t want meetings pushed at me.  I just want a night out and I was planning to go to the shops.”

Today I got a call from Elizabeth to ask me to come round as she wanted to go out shopping.  Today is Saturday not Sunday – that says it all.

“The social worker was not very nice considering I wasn’t feeling well.  She was asking me about things.”

“I was not very happy with this meeting.  I need my Mum – she is helping me.  I am not wishing to take part in any more meetings”

The above message was typed by someone else –  Elizabeth does not type.   I don’t know who has typed this but these are not Elizabeth’s words.

“Dear Mum

I will be grateful if you can visit me once a week only on Sundays so that we go to church together and give me my allowance as well.  I will prefer you call before coming to visit me at ………………………..”

Yours faithfully”

The above words are not Elizabeth’s words – she would never use the word “allowance” for a start or say “I will prefer you call before coming to visit me”.

My carer who is now banned from the scheme because he made mention about the microwave oven not being healthy – he  also got a message from Elizabeth that she wanted him to visit in order that they could go out this evening.   This carer is like part of the family – someone we all trust 100% and has provided help in the absence of any assistance or care provided by ENFIELD mental health over a period of more than 2 years whilst Elizabeth was home and I would add it was her choice to come home as she was unhappy at the care home in Northampton.  It was only when I went to the Council’s Scrutiny Meeting that suddenly the Consultant Psychiatrist got in touch.  I accused the Councillors of not doing anything when I was trying to get the chemical Clozapine and I had to go to Harley Street in the end on the fourth day having been told that I would not get the drug anywhere not from any hospital in the local area and to get her back to the care home as they were paying for it.  I of course refused as I knew she would be sectioned as a matter of convenience and they were trying to arrange the funding for this – extra money for the taxpayer to pay out.  This was exactly what they were all planning and all the time I offered to drive all that way to pick up the chemicals.   So I presented the meeting with my story called “Get Her Back We Are Paying For That” to the Scrutiny meeting.

I have spoken to the wonderful organisation Liberty that I have joined as I would like all my carers to be applauded and highly recognised for their wonderful support in the absence of any care at all over the past years.   There are others too I would like to mention and say thanks to and hope I will be chosen.   It was good to see such a turnout at Liberty’s AGM and I was really impressed by their last award ceremony.   I would welcome the chance to talk openly about the state of mental health care in the UK and I am in touch with the most shocking cases of abuse in the UK.   How on earth can all this be allowed to go on in a so called civilised country and none of it appears in the press.

I remember previously at a hospital, (they made out it was Elizabeth’s decision for me not to be allowed on the ward or to phone at an allocated time)  I was allocated a slot to have a supervised phone call once a week but this happened to be at a time I could not ring.  All this time Elizabeth was in touch with me by text message and the letter was written by a manager there who once looked on the floor in shame when I asked what she had against me and so did one of the doctors when I asked why she had been prescribed Metformine and Clozapine which are contra indicated.   There have been so many instances like this where Elizabeth has been treated not like a person but like an object – a possession and her wishes disregarded altogether whilst a team will do everything they can to discredit you – the family – or family member as in my case and go behind your back making you out to be a terrible person, someone who is abusive, cruel, hostile, aggressive, suffering from mental illness you name it!  They even try to put words in the head of a vulnerable person putting pressure on that person and worse of all try to carry out a mental health assessment on you using your GP and accuse you of being mentally ill.    I suppose that would enhance their argument that you are not a fit mother and therefore should be banned.

I want to tell you all that I do not visit the scheme during the week daytime as I work.  I am not there every second of the day.   I am not there to “interfere” as they like to say.  It is the team who are putting words in Elizabeth’s head right now, excluding the family once again and having constant secret meetings behind everyone’s back.  They play on confidentiality and use a vulnerable person like a tool to get back at you when they dislike you and from what I see from the files they certainly dislike me a lot  but it is all wrong.  These professionals are publicly funded and there is absolutely NO accountability as no-one likes to admit if something is wrong or apologise to you about the treatment of the family and person cared for especially when very serious things have happened under their care.  They are truly above the law, protected and untouchable especially some doctors – mainly psychiatrists who are a law unto themselves.

I want to tell you that Elizabeth is very upset about all of this and does not like all their constant questioning as to whether she is being abused by me or worse.   Then they make up their sorry notes and even the past history is wrong in the files.    It is not just myself but others in the family who have complained and I have so many witnesses as many people helped me when the Clozapine had to be retitrated from scratch involving team members coming into my home twice a day reporting back to the Community Rehab Team.    Elizabeth has since told me she was “persuaded” or rather pushed to continue these distressing meetings and that there are  further meetings planned next week and she has felt forced to go along with this and is not at all happy understandably so.   Why is there no advocate present?  This is so very wrong and in itself abusive of a team of professionals as Elizabeth is finding all of this very upsetting.

Safeguarding seems to be  a once- sided exercise where a team question and question and question –  they put pressure on Elizabeth to say things against people in the family especially me who they don’t like and afterwards she feels very sorry that she may have said one or two things and all of this is being recorded in their files behind our backs.  At least I am saying things openly and honestly here.   We have most of the files to see for ourselves what goes on. This is not care this is abuse by professionals to force a vulnerable person against her family and if a whole gang of professionals say things against you as a mother for instance then it is all very biased and unfair. Who is going to believe someone who is just a mother.   So Elizabeth has attended a Safeguarding Meeting  where at least   I bet there are many professionals are in attendance and not one single advocate.    Not a fair situation at all.  At the Bethlem there were 9 at a meeting and Elizabeth often did not feel well enough to attend.  One of Elizabeth’s diagnoses is Aspergers and no one in Enfield wishes to let her have an assessment and the other diagnosis is PTSD.  I’ve got reports and other professionals are being ignored here.   Surely under the Equality Act 2010 Elizabeth has a right to be treated fairly and have an Advocate present.

I wish so much there was Open Dialogue in the local area as none of this would go on and openness and transparency which would mean I could trust the people are involved in the “care”  – but unfortunately there is nothing like this in ENFIELD.

I wish to express my thanks to the Court of Protection for acting fairly in the past not just for my daughter but for my father who had Alzheimers.  I kept him out of a home for many years and provided carers to look after him too.    Elizabeth was so terrified of going to Court.  They wanted to sever contact and deprive liberty and force her back to a care home hundreds of miles away where she had no food at the weekend.  All is written in the files.   £30 to manage on and if the money ran out they she had to go without.  Elizabeth was in bed at 6.00 pm –  what kind of care is this?

Tomorrow I am taking Elizabeth to church and I am going to tell every single church about all of this abuse.  Let God be the judge of them all as it is not my place to as they like to judge me.  I know that members of a team just go along with things as they have bills to pay and families to support –  I personally could not work in such a profession that likes to tear families apart and treats vulnerable people in the most despicable way.  They make out they know the family but they do not know anything about the family at all and there are so many mistakes in the files you would not believe it.