Elizabeth was transferred to this hospital NPU from the local area.  She was very ill at the time suffering severe adverse reaction to maximum levels of concomitantly prescribed drugs given so I can see documented.  I have already mentioned them but 800mg Quetiapine is maximum level –  Clorpromazine on top, Haloperidol on top as well as Zopicol and Lorazepam.   No wonder she was having adverse reactions.

She was promised a drug free period of assessment by Prof Murray and  I thought that this was a specialist hospital that could help Elizabeth and if she was allergic to these drugs, proper assessments would be given and I had it all in writing that she was being offered a drug free period of assessment.  After admission when I was concerned that Elizabeth’s Advanced Declaration appeared to be ignored – why were they pushing Clozapine?   I made a point in showing the staff the letter from Prof Murray as well as drawing to their attention that Clozapine as a drug that Elizabeth did NOT wish to be on.  They just ignored this and I soon got to find out to my dismay “you should have done your research – its all about Clozapine here”.  I can confirm that this drug does not work as Elizabeth can still feel emotion and there is nothing wrong with this.

Anyway here below is what happens when you object to a team’s proposals and  when you dare to speak up for your relative.  Here below documented are the most ruthless dealings you can expect at this and other establishments within the UK in breach of human rights and Article 8 HRA:

Included in an email from social worker from local area  dated 19th November 2012 were the following recipients:

There were 2 social workers (YES ELIZABETH HAD TWO SOCIAL WORKERS AT THE TIME BOTH FROM THE LOCAL AREA);  Consultant Psychiatrist from Bethlem (BEDLAM);  Ward Manager from BEDLAM;  lead Nurse from BEDLAM:   Heading “SECTION 3 APPLICATION” – The email was written by one of the social workers from the local area.

“Dear All”

The email states I had withdrawn my objection to section 3 detention under the MHA – however she refers to my email where I had numerous concerns and I am going to document extracts of my email here dated 31st May 2012:

“It is not in my daughter’s interest that I am replaced as the nearest relative as her father lives a distance away and does not visit that often”.

“Since  I have been given no time to find a legal representative to help me in court I see little chance in me succeeding against all the team and against the Section 3 MHA Application so unfortunately I have no choice but to say “yes”, even though my daughter is unhappy and blames me for being in what she calls “prison”.”   So my daughter called it prison and hell on earth in the files.

“I have made the Honourable Judge … more than aware of the reasons for me complaining and I think that I and the rest of the family are owed an explanation as to why my daughter’s face was covered in bruises.” I referred to a visit I found out my daughter had been visited on the ward by someone who had made threats against me from the local area.  Apparently he had been allowed to come onto the ward drunk with alcohol.

I go on to say that” I had no regrets for challenging the team – if this was their daughter they would be thinking differently.”  I referred to lack of help with money at local level where in the scheme in the community she  spend money on things other than food and at other times no money would be withdrawn from the office.  So in other words Elizabeth was not eating correctly and not having the correct nutrition can affect someone badly if they are on these drugs.  Living off takeaways as she was too ill to do simple tasks such as cook/clean her flat, wash up, throw away rubbish and cook.   One evening she was sitting in darkness as a light bulb has blown and there was not a spare one available in the scheme.  She was just going downhill as she had spent a long time in hospital prior to discharge into the community.   I also mentioned that she had “lost – (stolen) expensive items such as a keyboard, two guitars, a playstation 2 and jewellery.  I had asked for an examination of the CCTV but nothing was ever done about this.

My main area of conflict with the team has been against the drugs.   I do not agree with drugging someone for life and wanted to see her on minimal levels but they just ignore this.  There is not one single facility in this Country for someone to go in to be withdrawn safely from psychiatric drugs and no one is considering the long term effects of the drugs to the patient – they do not consider the risks of this at all which is a disgrace in my opinion.  If someone is misdiagnosed or have multiple diagnoses – termed “treatment resistant” this does not make any difference and they are expected to take drugs for life even though the diagnosis is in question.

HOW THEY GANG UP:

Prior to these emails there is correspondence from someone who I believe is in the legal team of SLaM.  In her email dated June 2012 she is discussing the best way to get rid of me as the Nearest Relative and advising the consultant psychiatrist there that it is possible to displace a nearest relative for reasons other than they are objecting to a section 3 application including that the nearest relative is otherwise not a suitable person to act as such.  She goes on to advise that the application can be made by another relative – the patient or an AMHP.  She said that they could not pursue that this week as the application to displace before the court was simply on the basis of the objection to Section 3.    She goes on to say that she thinks it is highly unlikely that Elizabeth would feel able to take such action but that the care coordinator from the local area would be inclined and is planning to have discussions with her legal department in the LOCAL AREA!

SHE GOES ON TO SUGGEST THAT THE TEAM AT THE NPU SHOULD KEEP CLEAR RECORDS OF ALL THE DIFFICULTIES YOU HAVE WITH MRS B SO THAT  ………….SOCIAL WORKER FROM LOCAL AREA CAN ADD THIS TO THE EVIDENCE.

NOW THAT ELIZABETH IS DETAINED YOU DO HAVE THE POWERS THAT CAN HELP TO MANAGE THE SITUATION INCLUDING CONTROL OF SECTION 17 LEAVE AND CONTROL OF VISITS IF THEY ARE COUNTER THERAPEUTIC.  YOU MAY ALSO WISH TO CONSIDER WHETHER ELIZABETH SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO KEEP HER MOBILE PHONE AS THIS IS CLEARLY A WAY THE MOTHER EXERTS A LOT OF INFLUENCE WHICH UNDERMINES HER TREATMENT.   

Copied in to this email above is the two social workers locally, Ward Manager/Lead Nurse and Psychiatrist from the Bethlem.

EMAIL FROM THE CONSULTANT PSYCHIATRIST NPU –He asks if hypothetically if one can proceed with the displacement of the nearest relative even if they are not objecting to detention.

Around about this time a new social worker was being considered – (the very one that continued with this campaign of “displacement” of me as the nearest relative/family destruction most recently in the current attempt to sever contact .   I can see copied into correspondence the Manager locally who is objecting to certain files being released that contain serious allegations made against “someone” and they will not even supply the name/number of the police officer concerned.  How interesting two names from her department as well as a note that they plan to ban Mrs B from the ward and it all about the compliance of the drug Clozapine for which Elizabeth flatly refused in the first instance and in an Advanced Declaration too.  This is all these so called professionals care about the pushing of more drugs at my daughter and banning and displacement of nearest relative trying to cause trouble and divide within the family.   This note is coming from the social worker at local level. prior to her discharge from the Bethlem and transfer to Cambian.  It shows how the team were writing and in touch with Mr B in an attempt to cut me out altogether with total disregard to the damage this would cause  Elizabeth coercing one parent to agree and go along with their wishes.   So first of all Olanzapine and Quetiapine were mixed together – Olanzapine was given at maximum levels at the NPU.  Then Olanzapine was being titrated with Clozapine.  I see the copy of the Advanced Declaration Elizabeth signed dated 25 March 2012 – showing her objection to physically invasive treatment and that includes psychiatric drugs and ECT or psychosurgery.  Well she was offered ECT – how interesting. The truth is all coming out now but Elizabeth cannot remember whether she actually had ECT – she remembers seeing the words ECT on the door so ECT does go on there according to Elizabeth.

I sat there taking down the minutes in shorthand at a CPA  meeting on Friday 04 May and brought with me a witness – a long term family friend.

I had disagreed with the consultant psychiatrist as to how the reduction was going to be done and told him this could not possible be done in two weeks. She was on a huge amount of drugs already so I know this much that taking someone off too steeply can cause psychosis as well as mixing more than one drug together.

I quoted my daughter’s remarks “Get me out of here – I am so unhappy”.  Elizabeth told me she did not go out much and she said “lets go anywhere and get away from here because I cannot stand much more and she went on to describe it as prison”    I felt devastated as this is not what I had in mind for my daughter and thought they would help her but instead they just put her on maximum amounts of drugs and Clozapine against her wishes.  “I want to come home Mum”.   However the team had other ideas as documented above.   At this meeting which had much less people than the last one where there was about 9, I noticed the pharmacist smiling as though she was highly amused but when I commented this took the smile off her face.  The times I have seen certain members of the team sitting there smiling and having their own private joke.   The meeting did not go on long and came to an abrupt halt when I disagreed with the consultant psychiatrist  and had even brought with me a cd on how this should be done correctly by Dr Ann Blake Tracy as well as other information by Professor Healy regarding the Olanzapine.  As well as the pharmacist smiling so was the doctor and he called for a halt in the meeting and said it would continue another week.  I went to stand up and said I was not happy and wanted the meeting to continue he said “Get out of the room or I will call security and have you removed”.    I told him that he was going against God and that he was abusing my daughter by not listening to her wishes.”   It was very noticeable that Elizabeth who wanted to sit in on some of these meetings was not represented by an advocate but when I looked them up to my horror I saw consultant psychiatrists on their Board so I felt an advocate should be appointed who was completely independent ie., no funding!  I am afraid that excludes Mind and Rethink but I found an excellent advocate  who went to town on his emails and had vast experience of this hospital and it was good because I got to know everyone’s names.   Who better to appoint but a former patient who had full  understanding of everything.  I shall give you some examples of his support later on.

Getting back to the Legal teams – this is something written by someone in the legal department locally.   Apparently their application is founded only on the unreasonable objection ground and though the court envisage likelihood of the exercising of power to dischsarge as an alternatiave ground apparently this was not what their application says and to amend it at short notice to mother did not seem acceptable to her.  Instead she goes on to say that” if they can go with the S3 that removes the current difficulty of having been unable to extend the S2.”   She therefore thinks that “mother should be informed that the Section 2 IS NOT IN FACT EXTENDED and invite consent from her to withdraw the application on the basis she DOES NOT OBJECT TO SECTION 3. ”  All of this coming from an area who call themselves “committed to serving the whole Borough fairly, delivering excellent services and building strong communities.   

LETTER BANNING ME FROM NPU VISITING:

The Multi Discipline Team feel it would be more beneficial to visit Elizabeth off the ward.   The MDT request you refrain from visiting for the next 3 weeks.  This does not mean you are not able to have visits off the ward.  A nurse escort will be provided for agreed leave determined y her Section 17 leave.    Wow –  I was given just 1 hour to visit and so what could I do in one hour?  I tried to bring some life onto this morgue of a ward where patients were drugged up to their necks and the grounds outside deserted.  I contacted certain celebrities but none were interested in visiting so I was prepared to pay for Tai Chi or Relaxation classes or even something more lively in the one hour I was allowed to spend with my daughter but then it came to the point where no amount of time was allowed not even was Elizabeth allowed on a hot sunny day.  This was not allowed and Elizabeth and other patients were cooped up on the ward like prisoners.  I have already documented how not once did Elizabeth get taken swimming and I noticed the swimming pool being used by the community and not by the patients.   I was threatened with arrest if I did not leave the premises so I called the Police myself and I noticed staff wore name badges back to front.   I could despite all of this praise one or two nurses there but I have no praise for certain other team members who just went along with everything treating Elizabeth like an object.  I would praise one nurse who came out running with us in the one hour allowed visit.  Elizabeth could hardly walk let alone run and this is when I found out they had given her Clozapine and Metformine.   I have only just found out about the Clozapine Chemotherapy and wonder why this was given – the family need to know if there are any health problems such as cancer and diabetes WHY THE SECRECY?  Whilst the team banned me they did not ban someone from the local area who turned up drunk and brought alcohol on the ward.  He was escorted off and banned apparently.

I am seeing now the full truth – the person who was appointed to investigate my most recent justified complaint about the deprival of medication for which I had no choice but to contact solicitors as no one in the team was budging – not one person helped me locally – she is the Manager of the department over which two other members of the Team rule – familiar names so I see.  All this in an area where the Chief Executive says “I am satisfied”  – how many times has she said she is satisfied that the care is excellent/satisfactory, that she is satisfied things have been dealt with fairly and now I can prove the opposite!

I had just one day’s notice to get time off to attend the court case in Bromley and had court papers sent to me over my work computer in front of all my colleagues.  I was bombarded by phone calls by their legal teams.

Extracts from Elizabeth’s appointed Advocate:

“Hi ………………

Please make sure that Susan Bevis’s extremely serious concerns, extremely reasonable proposals and extremely reasonable requests get responded to appropriately and with appropriate speed from this moment on , as, so far, these matters seem to be being treated as of little importance and not at all urgent, when the reverse is actually needed.  SLaM’s usual “tardiness” syndrome must not be allowed to deliver sloppy responses long after far too many horses have bolted.  And SLaM’s usual “sloppiness” syndrome must not be allowed to treat “slow response”, or “no response”, as acceptable.  You should listen very attentively to Susan because she is a “plain speaker” who does not try to make excuses for the behaviour of your so called “professional staff” when their behaviour ranges from the  “mindlessly and thoughtlessly rude”  to the “unbelievably insane”.  Invite a documentary team to spend a month on your wards because the real abusers always smarten up their acts when they know that they are being watched.  Behind closed doors, your “hospital” has “normalised” abuse —  it has allowed abuse to become routine, and a way of life – and the fact that most other Trusts have done the same does not make this Okay.  I strongly recommend that you instruct the entire management team to stop being compulsively defensive and start working positively with people like Susan and I. because you should be treating us as your greatest allies.  We are all on the same side.  We only differ in politics, where Susan and I believe that openness, honesty are always the best policy, whereas current SLaM culture dictates that arse-covering must always be the most important order of the day. “

My advocate then goes on to give some examples of the abuse he has suffered in terms of restraint but because of lack of evidence nothing was ever done about this.

“I strongly recommend that key senior managers get together for an extensive fact and action establishing meeting with Susan and I and other members of Speak Out Against Psychiatry, preferable at a time and location that suits Susan and I although Susan and I will be flexible about this because we always put swift high quality  results ahead of personal convenience. 

Here are a list of proposals from Elizabeth’s Advocate  who she appointed herself having had a long conversation with this former patient who clearly has a great understanding:

Our priorities should be :

• Research alternatives and treatment organisations that would be more suitable for Elizabeth.
• Get a good solicitors and Tribunal set up ASAP.
• Get a substantial (2hr) CPA meeting set up to take place c 2 weeks before the Tribunal wit a view to closing as many perception gaps as possible, with a view to getting some agreement as to what best possible future options might be, with a view to getting everyone on Elizabeth’s side in ways that she is happy with, and with a view to making sure that when the Tribunal takes place, no one gets any last minute horrible surprises spring on them (which often happens even though it is not supposed to happen).
• Make sure that all Tribunal – required clinical reports are ready for review in advance of the CPA meeting.
• Finally please don’t be too upset about the attitude that says “I like to start afresh with each patient and I have enough reading to do”  Contrary to the view of most psychiatrists that “patients never change” and “patients never move on” and “we don’t need any fresh diagnoses based on up to date fresh assessments because the old diagnoses are always good enough –  contrary to this view most patients do move on and fresh up to date diagnoses, free of note based assumptions should always be given priority over what one assumed (possibly incorrectly) many, many years ago.  Taking “history” too seriously can be highly problematic and can lead to all sorts of wrong decisions being made based on information that is no longer relevant.  Ignoring history is also bad but far less problematic – he goes on to give an example of his own situation that the professionals know virtually nothing about present day because they have no real relationship with the patient.

“The experts” are only experts at building scary fantasy worlds in their own private worlds of ever more notes using a special private fantasy language that has evolved over the years for the purposes of pretending to help people and/or proving that clinicians are doing something useful, when deep down they know they are not.  This also arises from laziness, because the self-awareness and self-honesty required to build real meaningful relationships with a real live human being is not something that can be achieved by remembering instructions off the back of a fag packet.”

Well this just about sums things up.   My advocate has copied in many names but this is what a team does when I myself have written to just one person whose signature appears at the bottom of a letter.  In comparison someone who has real life experience makes a wonderful advocate and I have no end of emails supporting myself and Elizabeth – at least there is no report notes between advocates and social services etc.   You know you are getting 100% honesty this way and transparency and fairness in holding team members to account unlike what I have seen by designated advocates who get funding and write report notes to social services.

I am going to end here as my nutritionist has given me no end of instructions to prepare things for Elizabeth this morning and throughout the day.  Elizabeth and my nutritionist prefer to take food with them to the venue that is gluten free and does not contain any additives as my nutritionist and advisor is an expert in this field and I want to introduce him to the wonderful Dr William Shaw of the Great Plains Laboratory.

I am so happy with everything right now.  Elizabeth has come home smiling and  happy last night and is being taken some wonderful venues which I will write about later on.  I could not be happier.  Also some of the mothers are experts too on nutrition so it will be good to introduce him to everyone and I cannot wait to attend later on.

BIO LAB CONFERENCE

      Elizabeth’s cat is more therapeutic than all the chemicals in the world.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(15)00460-5/fulltext     –  What can I say to this!    I would be interested to hear your comments after you have read the truth from above and below see the accurate blog below.

http://www.nationalpsychosisunit.blogspot.co.uk/http://www.nationalpsychosisunit.blogspot.co.uk/

BIO LAB CONFERENCE

Tonight I have Sandra Breakspeare from Chy Sawel staying with me.  Tomorrow I will be meeting the other mothers attending Bio Lab/Gt Plains Laboratory Conference.   I hope at the end I will get to speak to Dr Shaw again like last time.

Elizabeth and my new advisor is coming with us.  He already knew about Dr Shaw’s research.

My new advisor is making sure Elizabeth is taken to healthy places and eats the most health foods.  As a result she is looking like a difference person.

Last Night 30.10.15

Met Sandra who had spent all day travelling all the way down from Cornwall.  Elizabeth was taken to a special place where there were therapeutic oils.  I will find out the name later.  Elizabeth came back home with some very nice things and Sandra and I tried one of the oils – again I will name the product later.  Elizabeth was very happy and Sandra commented on how well she is improving since coming home.

My advisor has left me a long list of instructions for this morning – breakfast and lunch as we will be making our way to the Bio Lab/Gt Plains Laboratory Conference.  We are hoping to meet Dr Shaw afterwards like last time.  I am sure everyone will be most impressed with the knowledge of my advisor.

I also showed Sandra some of the wonderful support I have had in advocacy when Elizabeth was sent to the Royal Bethlem Hospital (Bedlam) or (Hell on Earth as Elizabeth calls it).  I shall also share with you how they operate in liaison with local professionals.   It is important that this sort of thing is brought out into the open so that everyone can see what is really going on.

This morning – 31.10.2015

I was up early but then I am used to getting up early on a daily basis and travelling a fair distance.

Made  breakfast and then I took Sandra to the nearest Tube Station.   I had to move my car as a bus was coming as I was dropping her off with her cases.  When I saw the bus coming I moved up a bit further but someone came across to me and said “you will get a ticket”  –  I had barely parked to 2 seconds whilst I was helping get her cases out of my car and he pointed to a camera.   The Council must be raking in the money if they charge for 2 seconds and there was no one in this parking bay so I await with interest to see if I get a ticket and then I am going to tell everyone and everyone will know what area I live in.    I would not feel happy at paying such a bill for two seconds and the time was around 8.10 am.  The reason I would not feel happy in paying is that I have to pay my carers for parking at the local hospital on a regular basis in order to collect the chemicals. I pay full Council Tax.  As I have said I begrudge to pay because I have seen the enormous amount of money available to spend on care in the budget having been to the Scrutiny Meeting. I have also seen the enormous amount of money that has been spent on care that has made my daughter worse and not better.  Care that includes the most nasty remarks written behind your back by a team of so called professionals.   Even those I thought I could trust have been nasty such as an art therapist who has labelled me as being mentally ill.  He even went one step further and wanted a mental health assessment done on me.  Is his title Doctor by any chance?  Are social workers doctors in my area that they can push someone into taking drugs like Clozapine?   as Inspector Brown says “What the hell is going on”  –  Good question.    I am able to live on a day to day basis without one single drug.  I have coped over the past years with enormous caring responsibilities and combined this with working.  I kept my father with Alzheimers out of going into a care home for many years.   The only person who has not been ill has been me as I have been able to keep going.   I can see Elizabeth has my strength in character as when the chemical Clozapine was deprived for several days she coped and actually described to me the withdrawal symptoms.  It is sad how professionals gang up against all medical ethics and they do it to protect one another, their jobs being more important than someone’s life “it  is more than my job is worth to give you those drugs” –  this was the response when I offered to collect the Clozapine from the care home.

Anyway I will keep you informed about the parking ticket! and much more.

Despite everything, it has not been the case that there has ever been a family “custody battle” as described in the files.  The entire family came together for the sad occasion of a funeral for Irmgard, the Grandmother of Elizabeth and her sister.  The drug Clozapine failed to destroy the emotion of Elizabeth on this sad occasion so I wondered what on earth does this chemical do!  Elizabeth’s sister gave a tribute speech on the life of her Grandma.  Afterwards, the entire family came back to the house along with close friends.    It is sad to think that the Grandfather is now alone and  disabled, some distance away from the rest of the family. Elizabeth’s sister is able to help during the week and go over there and I too have offered help with shopping although time is limited to weekends.    It is sad Elizabeth cannot help as she would have been able to at one time.   Elizabeth is too afraid to go out alone and since coming home and there is no help as regards this.  As Dr Johnson correctly says it is about Truth Trust and Consent.   I have tried to get her to walk up the road alone but she refuses.  She is so terrified to go out she is choking/feeling ill and that also applies to when we take her out for meals. She has come out of the system disabled and to think at one time she was working, learning to drive and going to college.  She would frequently get a bus over to her grandparents house but relies on someone to take her out.   She says she feels dizzy as though she is about to fall over and I have read that is a side effect of the drug.   I have tried to take her to classes at local gyms and have just joined a new class for zumba  just down the road.  It is sometimes a performance to get her out of the house, there are good days and bad.  Elizabeth will   mainly stand by the side of the wall and close to it.  In order to help I have appointed a personal trainer who comes once a week now and someone who has been a very good friend lately has taken her out places as I am not around all the time during the week.  Apart from this I rely on close friends and family to help me.   It is now fifteen months since Elizabeth came home  but despite her fears of going out places she is improving and eventually settles down.   I could not do any of this if I did not work.    The Court case ended without even her fares being offered and this goes to show how disabled people are treated in this Country.

One thing I can understand is that Elizabeth is terrified to see the consultant psychiatrist and does not wish to see anyone from social services.  When you think that attempts were being made all along to section and force return her to care no wonder why she does not want to see certain team members.  Anyway they have not taken an interest up to 15 months of her being home.    On her own accord, Elizabeth had written a note to this effect and I understand from her sister that she cancelled a recent appointment as she did not wish to attend.    We would not have known about these appointments that Elizabeth would in any case have to be taken too as letters were written directly to her and I only got to hear via her sister.   Recently the words “it is not about you” have been said –  the fact of the matter is if you as family are excluded and someone like Elizabeth cannot get out of the house alone, who is it about?   I think it is wrong to exclude families and carers in some cases especially where help is needed.  I think it is wrong to spend vast sums of money on court cases that end without any proper settlement when someone has been treated badly – but that is what things are like in the UK.

This week whilst I have been at home, I have been extremely busy. I have taken Elizabeth to see her GP as I wanted to discuss the private test results I have had done recently.   We have also been to see our local MP and Elizabeth spoke to her –  during this meeting I mentioned the reason why my neither my carers not Elizabeth wished to attend a clinic in a neighbouring Borough.      Once a month Elizabeth has to go to blood tests in order to obtain the Clozapine and then my carers will collect the blood packs elsewhere .   We have also been to Harley Street for an appointment referred to from local level for an MRI scan in an open scanner.    Elizabeth also suffers from of claustrophobia but both services -one with an open scanner, the other a smaller one were run by private sector companies.   This large open scanner  was much better and although terrified, Elizabeth went under this and the tests have been done now.    Next month we have the appointment with the Neurologist.

Recently, through the organisation ISPS, Elizabeth and I took part in a session of open diaglogue  and we think this is brilliant and the correct way forward.  Anyway Elizabeth and I have asked to be transferred to an area where there is Open Dialogue.    There are some brilliant consultant psychiatrists and professionals who attend these events and despite  and I like the way everything is open and honest.   It is all about truth and trust but when Elizabeth and I have sat down together to read the shocking contents of the files it is difficult to trust people and it is not just me who has been written about in a bad way.    I think one of the worse comments I have read has not even come from a doctor  but from an art therapist who thinks he knows best by giving me a label of being mentally ill myself.    I could quite easily contact this person if I wanted to, but I do not know if I can be bothered – if he wishes to think this then let him!  If I was to speak to this person I would ask which diagnosis – after all there are so many of them to choose from in the DSM.    I expect this “expert” would most certainly also think that drug treatment was the correct way forward and like I said, even with the most powerful of drugs such as Clozapine Elizabeth was still able to cry and show emotion at the funeral.    I thought to myself what a waste of money!  All these drugs that make people disabled and not everyone is happy to be on them.   Having a diagnosis = having access to benefits.   This is a most unfair system whilst no help given for anyone to be reduced or come off these drugs./  Whilst some can metabolise others cannot.  Those who cannot metabolise can suffer adverse reactions and no proper testing is being done prior to prescribing.     I am still waiting for the results from Holland but even the short email that has come back to me puts everything in question including the whole diagnosis (and there are 5 different ones) – words to the effect of not being able to metabolize certain anti-depressants.   Prozac was the first drug given and to me that brings everything into question as this certainly had a shocking effect on Elizabeth. She became unrecognisable down to this drug.

I see there is a programme on mental health by Panorama next week.   I shall try and watch this as I believe that  it is the treatment that is wrong.  Elizabeth now needs prompting to do regular essential tasks and could not manage by herself.   In the scheme where she was sent after three years of incarceration she was expected to manage on £30 a week and it clearly says in the files she had no food and staff had to remind her of the importance of watching her spending.   Well £30 a week is not much money but it is not impossible to budget however for someone who has been in hospital for so long it sounds completely inadequate that that person is expected to manage and then goes without food.   It is essential that someone like Elizabeth on a powerful drug has the right diet. I thank God that I have the most brilliant support right now:

My house is looking more like a health shop.   My adviser is an expert on nutrition has been educating the entire family on far more than nutrition but healthy lifestyle and I am more than  happy to listen to this advice.

Elizabeth has been taken by my adviser to several health shows, a recent VeganFest, Chocolate shows, clinics where they have special treatments and saunas – infra red saunas.   The Adviser has shown us some wonderful places such as Nutri Centre and China Life Tea.

I now only cook with Coconut oil and use only Himalyan rock salt.

Coconut oil can: Stave off infections, increase energy  helping you burn more fat, can kill your hunger making you eat less without even trying, can improve blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease.

The fatty acids in coconut oil can boost brain function in Alzheimers patients.

My adviser has told me about Bisphenol – a chemical used commercially in plastics and resins.   So I try and use stainless steel  and  glass instead of plastic.  BPA is not just in plastic but also in metal cans.

I also buy organic produce now too and if you shop around you can get reasonably good deals.  I am now looking through a huge folder of information given which includes things like:

Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is recommended.

Today Elizabeth has had Birch Tree Water and Vitamin D which is very important too.   Elizabeth says this is really helping her.

I am also looking at the bread I buy and the sugar content and chemical additions to food and especially in diet drinks.  I tend to buy gluten free.

Whilst Jamie Oliver focusses on sugar my advisor has gone much further with his expertise and I never thought about radiation levels in the house before but my adviser has come out shopping with us and gives instructions as to recipes for Elizabeth and has come round to cook.  He is a very good cook too and tends to do vegan/vegetarian food which is a good thing.

Cooking oils are important.    I have just thrown away some of the previously purchased oils and have and purchased healthy oils.  A fridge test can determine whether olive oil is good quality or not.  Leaving the oil in the fridge for a couple of days is sometimes enough to tell.  Monounsaturated oils such as olive oil will solidify in side the fridge while polyunsaturated oils such as sunflower and safflower oil will not.

http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/estaticos/view/83-designations-and-definitions-of-olive-oils.   This link is just one example I have been given.

I have also been advised to get some CherryActive.

There is so much information to take in and I am inviting my nutritional expert to meet other mothers who have sons/daughters incarcerated and they are good parents too yet many are unable to get their sons and daughters out of the rotten system.   We will be meeting with Dr Shaw at the Bio Lab’s forthcoming conference next week.  I am looking forward to meeting Dr Shaw again and seeing Sandra Breakspeare of Chy -Sawel –  this is the kind of treatment MH patients should have – good nutrition, a proper assessment into whether they suffer from food allergies, proper tests to see if there are infections/endocrinal disorders and the best way forward as if someone is on these mind altering chemicals they cannot just come off them easily and this is why it is so important to have the correct diet and expert advice.   I am very lucky to have found this and such advice could benefit hospitals and maybe Jamie Oliver should look into doing something to solve the problem of MH care via nutrition as this is now becoming such a major problem with shortage of beds –  correct nutrition and diet could play an important role here.     It is obvious that unhealthy diet contributes to the way someone can feel and all the more important that the diets of people under MH care are thoroughly looked at.  It is unhealthy to provide microwave dinners on the wards and something needs to be done about this situation.    Living in the community without proper support patients are left to go downhill and need help with nutrition especially if on maximum levels of mind altering chemicals.    It is a pity doctors do not think about this rather than push huge levels of drugs, sometimes concomitantly prescribed to patients without any thought to their health and wellbeing.   Why are these P450 tests not widely available?  I have had to go to some lengths to get them done but also it is not all about finding the most suitable drug – these tests should be used to allow for patients to be on the minimal and  not maximum doses and that can be done with the correct nutrition.  So instead of sugar campaigns how about looking at everything and concentrating on schemes in the community to ensure patients are eating healthily and educated and encouraged  to do so.  Some patients may not feel well enough to cook a meal and they are left to live on takeaways.  These drugs can render someone disabled to the point they have no energy or thinking ability.  It is these patients that need help and assistance and not just left to go downhill to the point they are re-admitted into hospital.   Diet/Nutrition is essential and investigations as regards food intolerance.

I have been invited to write an article for a magazine called Equilibrium and wish to do something jointly with my guest blogger.  It is a case of finding the time to write though-f  I am hoping to feature the results from Holland and to bring to the public’s attention that not everyone detained under the MH Act is violent and a danger to self or others and are detained for “convenience” – costing the public thousands per week. I would feature some real life cases.   All this money could be better spent on improving nutrition and making this widely available and for those who are too ill to cook a meal because of the enormous quantities of drugs then more should be done to help within the community.    The current system of forced drugging/ECT/restraint/CTOs is not working and it is not easy to get someone out of the system and I am proving that it can be done but that is thanks to the help and support I have had from friends/family, former patients – peer support is a good thing.   These are people I can trust whereas some professionals like to write behind your backs in a nasty way.  All the more reason to have Open Dialogue and centres like Chy Sawel set up.   Elizabeth and I have requested to be transferred to an area where they have Open Dialogue.   I will let you know how I get on with this in due course.

Elizabeth and I have been out all day.   In the morning we went to the Zumba class and had a great time.  Elizabeth joined in OK but stood near the wall.  Elizabeth can see from this class that there are some really good  people around and some who care about others.   It was a lively and happy occasion and good for her to socialise which is something I am encouraging.  This class is within walking distance to where we live and I hope that in due course she will be able to go on her own.   I am also encouraging Elizabeth to do her own shopping with her bank card.  I do not want her to become totally dependant on me.    A new friend of the family called today and invited us to  to a couple of wonderful places in Camden.  First of all we went to Touch Tuina, a therapeutic centre where they offer a wide variety of specialised treatments.   Both Elizabeth and I experienced the massage sessions and then an infra red sauna.  The saunas are made from red cedar wood by a company called Health Mate.  This made me think we have a garage at the back of our garden and I could visualise having one of these wonderful saunas myself however  there is a lot of tidying up to do in this garage before I could seriously consider this but something like this would definitely benefit Elizabeth.  The sauna gives the benefit of daily detox, rejuvenation, effective relief from Arthritis, Back, neck and shoulders.  I am even tempted by the prices – for two people the sauna would cost £3700.  That is all we would need – nothing larger.  The centre of course offered many other wonderful treatments and I am more than happy for Elizabeth to go there again and we all came out of there feeling so much better and it was a very relaxing experience.   From there we went to a place that specialised in many varieties of Teas, namely Chinalife http://www.chinalifeweb.com of 99 Camden High Street, London NW1 7JN.  I was very impressed and I ordered a selection of these teas for us all. Our new family friend is extremely knowledgeable as regards nutrition and I have to say more knowledgeable than the majority of doctors, many of whom are only too happy to prescribe drugs.    I am not normally a tea drinker but I tried some of the varieties on offer which I found very refreshing.  It was also very good for Elizabeth.  Amongst the variety of teas – white teas, yellow teas, green teas. Teas were from China, Japan, from Taiwan,  Black/Red teas, cocktails, lattes and in addition lectures and tastings, educational information on history, cultivation etc.   I was extremely impressed and I bought some tea to take away – Amachazuru – a herbal tea with powerful immune boosting adaptogenic and antioxidant herb with a vast variety of reported health benefits.  I also bought Ceremonial Matcha – a very high grade ultra fine Japanese Matcha made from organic Tencha.    I bought these as gifts for people I know who are suffering from cancer.  The Grandma of Elizabeth is such a person and we were planning to visit her tomorrow in hospital but unfortunately on our way back home from Camden I received a phone call to say that her condition has worsened and right now Elizabeth and her sister are at the hospital visiting. Sadly she has lung cancer.  I am pleased that Elizabeth has stopped smoking altogether since coming home.  It is good we have a friend of the family who is so knowledgeable about healthy eating and diet.  This is a welcome influence on Elizabeth as it is essential that she pays attention to her diet as she is on Clozapine – a last resort drug  for “treatment resistant” Schizophrenia – however we have seen not one sign of any psychosis or had any hint of problems with Elizabeth since she has come back home.  I have paid special attention to diet since Elizabeth has come home and do not buy any processed food and try and get fruit and vegetables – a balanced diet.      We all had such a good day and on the way home I received many calls from Elizabeth’s sister who  was telephoning me asking our whereabouts as she was keen to get to the hospital.  I hope this is not going to be too upsetting for Elizabeth but she wanted to go and I would not stand in her way of doing things.  The family friend  is a very honest and trustworthy person who has gone out of his way to help and who has taken Elizabeth to the Natural Health Show recently.    Also it is good because it is very informative for me as a mother to know what the best products are to buy and my house is becoming more like a health shop as I am paying attention to the labelling of products and not just shopping without any thought.  I now have more idea what to look out for as regards the food labelling and listed ingredients.

Tomorrow I was planning to visit someone in hospital but I also would like to take Elizabeth to the Philadelphia Association 50 years – a Celebration.  I have printed off a lot of information for Elizabeth to read on R D Laing.  The Philadelphia Association came into being 50 years ago to challenge and to widen the discourse around the teaching and practice of psychotherapy.   It will be interesting to attend this event that is if Elizabeth feels up to going.

PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION – R D LAING

When Elizabeth was sent to the Bethlem and signed an Advanced Declaration (not worth the paper it was written on) meant to be a drug free period of assessment but in fact led to her being put on Clozapine against her wishes I was told “you should have done your research – its all about Clozapine here” .  I made sure that staff were aware of the fact that Professor Robin Murray promised a drug free period of assessment.  Mixing high quantities of drugs – Olanzapine with Quetiapine led to adverse behaviour and distressed phone calls from Elizabeth to me in a confused and terrified state “I don’t know which tablet to take, Mum”   I will never forget that place and how they treated people and on the surface it looks good however if you disagree or dare to challenge them you get treated in the most shocking manner.

Under the site Patient Opinion there are some comments that are very accurate in terms of describing mental health care and you think you are getting better under the private sector but NO!  –  there is a reluctance to let go and no wonder why when so much money is being spent by the local NHS on such services.   For instance there is meant to be a Hospital Manager’s Meeting before a Tribunal and they played on confidentiality and in desperation refused files to my solicitors.   So the Manager’s Hearing did not go ahead.    The Consultant Psychiatrist at the private establishment was soon to leave and this is common place I have noticed if there is an ongoing investigation or a complaint – someone has left and that makes access to information or responses difficult or impossible.

Anyway, I have tonight I decided to look up the two hospitals where Elizabeth was being referred – all is to be seen via the patient opinion site where you are more likely to get an honest write up than when you look at the ratings of the CQC where practically everything is rated  good/excellent and I recently questioned them openly on Twitter – how can an establishment be good when a resident who has just come out from hospital has no food at the weekend and that is because she cannot manage money –  when someone is drugged to the hilt and left without proper care and support then it is not very good that this resident is left without any food and there is no attempt to contact the relatives.  When £1750+ per week is being received by the care home there is NO EXCUSE.  I am waiting to hear the rest of the answers to my complaint and it has been suggested that I write to someone who has since left –  well this may involve a bit of investigation on my part but I have been recently very good at tracing certain professionals  through their professional representative body.  I am now awaiting responses.

I now wish to share with you the following and this sums up treatment to many people detained under MH shocking care of the UK.   where breach of human rights is commonplace.   Only a few places that breach human rights and treat vulnerable people cruelly are reported in the national press and I would like to feature such hospitals on my website in order that improvements can be made.

The following comments are not written by me but by service users/carers and I can fully identify with them.   There are two separate hospitals featured below:

PATIENT OPINION   https://www.patientopinion.org.uk/

“I had to go there because my relative had a tribunal. This security precautions are worthy of a prison, very depressing, even the judge said that sometimes in these places, she cannot do her work because they take her laptop from her. I nearly had an argument with the people who removed all my possessions as I went in. The actual staff on the ward were very nice, I think it is just the regulations, so restricting they cannot possibly be conducive to recovery. My relative has completely withdrawn, I feel that the psychiatric system itself is wrong, has made his condition worse. Always presupposing the worst, more likely to get it. My relative is stuck in there, unable to go out unable to draw out any money, begging me for money, which I can’t afford. Supposed to be rehabilitation but the people aren’t even allowed to go online//have a mobile phone or tablet. Maybe they have some real hard cases in there, for whom these restrictions are designed, but my relative is not a criminal or dangerous has the misfortune to be banged up with those who might be. The grounds etc all very nice but apparently nobody is allowed out in them. I would not like to work in that place, or to be in there. Ward staff as I said, doing their best, and in spite of everything managed to remain cheerful and positive.”

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Family experince of a loved one’s stay

Posted by Anonymous 4 months ago

My relative was placed there by the NHS and due to logistics we would not have been able to visit him for two weeks. Luckily he was transferred to the local hospital on day 14. I found the staff rude all save two I’d spoke to. Trying to speak to him on the phone was a nightmare – calls are transferred to a mobile which due to unit’s location, kept cutting out. Despite being his next of kin and his consent to share , I was not called once by them. I had to request feedback and asked his doctor to call me. I then had a convoluted journey obtaining an email address to send a copy of his suicide letter to – it had to go via a nurse who failed to confirm receipt as requested. I had to call and ask if it had been passed .He was placed on a cocktail of meds which as since been reviewed at the new placement – two meds have been stopped and it was not clear why he’d been put on them. My impression is that no matter how lovely the setting and good the food , the staff and service were indifferent. in their treatment of family members at a very distressing.”

“An atmosphere of fear and anxiety instead of…”

Posted by Anonymous 13 months ago

Rather than an expected atmosphere of compassion, …………….seems to prefer a climate of anxiety and fear to keep patients quiet, with numerous posters and occasional verbal warnings reminding patients that they can be forcebly sedated for any reason (such as voicing a dissenting opinion or daring to question a staff member). Presumably a lack of funding also means limited staff, and as such care is inconsistent (entire areas including patients own rooms are at times off limits). Simple requests for belongings are met with scorn, and staff are seemingly not above false accusations to justify sanctions over perceived slights. Moreover, and most alarmingly, self destructive or otherwise anxious behaviours are either ignored or afforded the same “sedate and forget” treatment as mentioned above. Patients are often handed medications without information or consultation also

Posted by ………….11 months ago

“I have to agree with a previous reviewer’s comments on how dreadfully poor standards are in this facility. There is little compassion and an atmosphere of indifference and tension. Personal belongings were confiscated and “checked” in absentia. I was denied access to a Laptop, iPad and mobile phone even though a consultant agreed to my request. When I commented that the book I was reading was on my iPad, a health care assistant showed me to a library of approximately seven, dated readers digest books. I also have to agree with a previous reviewer in regard to false accusations and scorn for simple requests for belongings. I asked for my notepad and pens and did not get them for three days. I asked for my electric toothbrush (no charger allowed), own soap and toiletries and was denied them for the same amount of time. The chief architect of this archaic, inconsistent and dictatorial high- handed behavior was the office manager, a woman who apparently is feared by other administration staff and nurses alike. This hospital prides itself on its grounds, but access was denied to too few periods during the day and only to a restricted area for smokers, presumably because of staffing shortages. These shortages were particularly noticeable due to frequent requests over the internal mobile radio for staff to relieve other staff for breaks. Forget dignity for patients, this place would not seem out of place in a Dickensian novel. When staff say they will come back to you with an answer for a simple request, they do not. That is one of the two consistent poor behaviors experienced by me in this awful place. The other was waiting patiently for medication at the cupboard they call the clinic. I once waited for over twenty minutes without being acknowledged. Additionally, I was not weighed, my temperature was not taken, and my bp was not measured once during my stay. On another occasion, whilst waiting of an apparent lifetime for medication again, the duty doctor was openly raising his voice to the duty nurse about not being able to admit another patient because another patient had not been “booked” off the system. Staff at this hospital should realize that people with mental issues do not necessarily have feeble brains and should respect the confidentiality of patients in discussions. In all, the NHS had appallingly value for money for my stay.”

posted by Your name or screen name 4 years ago

“What I liked

Nothing

What could be improved

Everything

Anything else?

No”

WELL SAID – THE FORMER PATIENTS I HAVE MET AND SPOKEN WITH ON THE WARDS ARE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND THEY DESERVE DIGNITY AND RESPECT.    IT IS NOT JUST PATIENTS WHO GET TREATED APALLINGLY BUT FAMILIES TOO.  

If only there was Open Dialogue.   An end should also be brought to “internal” investigations done by the very staff who are being complained about – one such member of staff was appointed to do an investigation into my valid complaint when the drugs were denied to Elizabeth for four days putting her life at risk.  She then passes my complaint to the very department to whom the complaint was addressed.  This same woman recommended the above hospitals.

I was showing Elizabeth tonight where they were planning to send her.   Thank God she is now at home and away from such cruelty however I would like to help those who are presently wrongly incarcerated (it is important to note that hospitals like to hang on to patients as they are earning thousands of pounds a week and are in no hurray to see them go)  the patient is left to go downhill and leave and family contact discouraged. This week I am joining the wonderful Organisation Liberty and I am more than happy to help in any way I can and I wish to draw they attention to some of the most shocking cases of abuse under the mental health care system of the UK.

I am proud to have been able to take part in the wonderful event of the CEP (Council for Evidence Based Psychiatry).  I would very much praise this organisation and the wonderful speakers.   I have discussed  with Elizabeth and she agrees that it is so important to make everything public in order that improvements can be made.  Nothing is ever going to be achieved by sience that is for sure.  I have just posted the link to Mr Hunt and Mr Corbyn as I do not want them to miss out on this wonderful debate.  I am so glad I went to this event and offered my assistance along with Elizabeth and her sister who makes diagnosis look ridiculous”!

Just to update you re Elizabeth:

Elizabeth was up early on the morning of the CEPs conference. We stayed overnight at a hotel called The Lodge Hotel which was really nice.  Elizabeth does not feel her best in the morning due to the mind altering chemical Clozapine.  However Elizabeth knows how important it is to attend such a wonderful event – nothing can make Elizabeth do what she does not want to and I as a mother am delighted that she can enjoy and see the value of such an event and has learned a great deal snce coming home to the right environment. Sandra of Chy Sawel stayed with me and this is the very care I would like to see in the UK.  CHY SAWEL  At least Elizabeth is not in an oppressive, coercive environment and one where a resident is given  £30 a week to manage on and expected to get on with it regardless.  I am not happy about this as no way is this the correct way to provide care.   The attitude of professionals to  – let a patient run out of money/clothes for not doing washing up. Well –  what I want to know is how on earth do professionals realise the full effects of being on maximum dosage of Quetiapine 800mg+ other chemicals.   Now I can see the truth.  What kind of doctors ignore the physical health of a patient or resident in a home?

I am described in the files an “over-protective mother” who is overbearing etc etc.  No last night Elizabeth was out – out at a wonderful venue and  not with me either in a wonderful place called China Life, having her hair done in London and going to an infra red sauna.   I am not a parent who wishes to restrict Elizabeth and not encourage her to go out on her own.  Where do these professionals get their information from!  They certainly do not know the family. I would in fact want to see Elizabeth completely independent..

So Elizabeth had a nice day out and was out late last night with with a friend of the family who is an expert on nutrition –  I am trying to encourage  Elizabeth to be independent and to manage her finances and live a healthy lifestyle.  I now have every hope for her .

http://chinalifeweb.com/tea-bar/

I will write more at the weekend.  I wish to feature the wonderful organisation Liberty.  I hope to join this organisation.  I am very keen to help in any way I can to improve things and eradicate the abuse going on today in the UK.

As promised, I now write my account of the recent meeting that I attended at my local Council.   This was the first meeting I have ever attended and it was held mid-week at 7.00 pm.  Attending were more than one local Councillor (c6 of them, I have just counted).   Also  invited to attend  were Church of England Diocese  Representative as well as Catholic Diocese Representative, a Parent Governor Representative, one Scrutiny Officer and one Scrutiny Manager.

Agenda:

This included:

Welcome and Apologies;

Declaration of interest;

Exclusion of Press and Public;

Call in of Report on Co-mingled dry recycling, Mixed Organic Wastes, Food Waste and Garden Waste – recommendation for contract award;

Looked After Children (Reports to be heard from Head of Services concerned);

Better Care Fund (Report to be heard from  BCF Programme Manager);

Care Act 2014: – 6 month update (Report to be heard from Acting Director of Health, Housing and Adult Social Care);

Residents Priority Fund Evaluation (Report to be heard from Head of Performance Management);

Work Programme 15/15;

Minutes of Meeting last held;

Matters Referred from the Exec. Council to Scrutiny. – How they should be progressed;

References to Cabinet;

References From Scrutiny to Cabinet/Council and other bodies: monitoring update;

Dates of Future Meetings; 

The Attendees of the meeting sat in the centre of the room, whilst I took my seat alone on the rows of empty seats to one side.   Because I was the only member of the public who attended, I was invited to sit at the end of the table with everyone else which I did but I was not formally introduced to anyone but I could see some of the names on name plates around the table.   No sooner had I taken my seat in the public area on arrival I was asked to leave and I was puzzled as to why-  if this is a Scrutiny Meeting then noone should be asked to leave and everything should be open and transparent.    I was not the only one asked to leave for the first half an hour of the meeting and whilst I sat in a waiting area I was talking to two people (council employees) who I did not know personally but later found out they were Heads of the  “Looked After Children” team, so I believe.  We waited until the councillors and everyone had finished their private discussions before we were called into the meeting.   I thought it was good to be invited to sit round the table with all of them but I sat there quietly throughout and did not comment and only on one occasion, was I asked who I was and I just said “a mother” .  I was also asked what I thought of the meeting and I said that I found it interesting and informative. However, I had also voiced my opinion earlier on to the other attendees (also excluded) for the first part that I thought it was  wrong to have a scrutiny meeting- any part of it in secret.

Of course, my main interest is in care and it was interesting to hear what the Committee members had to say and listen to the presentation of their reports.

Figures of  how many children in care were presented and from the information supplied, figures would suggest growth  over the last year relating to young people aged 15 +  for reasons such as:   “chaotic home situations” or through criminal justice process maintaining them in stable placements and engaging them in education which was stated to be a significant challenge for the services.    Comparison was made to a other local Boroughs and of course the comparison came out very well in the Council’s favour by stating lower numbers..  Apparently,  the majority of children in care were in foster care.

The reasons children became looked after were given as “not safe to remain in the care of their families;  when families refuse to continue to care for them; unaccompanied asylum seeking children; remanded through criminal courts.    Various charts highlighted different matters, including ethnicity of looked after children,placement types- YOI /prison, semi-independent, secure unit, residential school, placed with parents, other LA /Foster Placement , Mother & baby unit, In-house Fostering, Hospital, Family & Friends , Children’s Home, Agency Fostering, Pre- Adoptive.  The chart gives you all the applicable figures of how many placements in each category.   There was also comparative figures from years 2010/11 to present in the local Borough, inner London, outer London and national numbers percentages per 10,000 children aged under 18 years.  Another chart gave details on age starting care.  Apparently Benchmarking data is used to compare performance of local authorities on their work with looked after children and this is available at national, regional and statistical neighbour levels.  My local area looks as though it is the best on this chart with the lowest percentage!  “Maintaining children in safe, stable placements has been shown to be a key factor in improving their long term outcomes.  The placement stability of looked after children is closely monitored by the DfE through two specific measures.  The first counts the percentage of children who have experienced three or more placement moves in a rolling year.”   More charts are provided giving figures on stability of placement (length of placement) in the local area and other councils and nationally.   Every school child in care must have a Personal Education Plan (PEP)  For young people age 16 and above the PEP is incorporated into a Pathway Plan.    Yet another chart on Percentage of care leavers in education, employment or training in the year 2013/14.  I could go on and on about these charts as there are so many to feature but I noted my local area come out quite high on adoption levels compared to other boroughs.  Under Issues/Challenges are mentioned the costs of caring for the growing number of looked after children which are increasing at a time when budgets are facing unprecedented pressure.      How very interesting from my point of view.  “Following the Government’s focus on encouraging more potential adopters to come forward there are now far more adopters available than children waiting for placements.”   There is a proposed move to a regional approach for adoption and this is under active discussion to determine the most appropriate model for London.

The meeting then went on to discuss the BCF Overview and 6 Month Progress Report:

A new integration Board established and working well!

Good progress being made on developing shared care record across social care, GPs and hospitals.

Many other thing are listed and claims of progress being strong are made and towards targets.

Many other things are listed and recommendations given.

Apparently in 2013 the Government announced the creation of a new Better Care Fund from April 2015.  This was designed to accelerate development of integration of Health and Social Care Services by shifting money from health into pooled budget with social care.  “Intention to focus on efforts on preventative and rehabilitative services so that interventions could be made “upstream” to lessen impacts “downstream””   The figures given for my local area are over £20m.   There is explanation of how this figure is made up.  Very interesting, especially how this figure is made up.

How the Fund will be Spent:

This gives the figures for protecting adult social care, for providing more integrated care, for a contingency fund against reduction of non-elective admissions and this is held by the CCG in accordance with national guidance .  Then there is the figure given for Disabilities Facilities Grant requests.   The BCF investments are focussed on :

Integrated care for older people

Adults with mental ill health

Adults with long term conditions

Children/health and wellbeing.

Target outcomes from work streams :this goes into several areas – I think the most applicable to Elizabeth would be “reducing admissions to nursing or residential care services and improving patient and service user experience of services.   I could say plenty on these points from my own personal experience.

Then there is under heading of Update how excellent and highly recognised at national level the local area was in performance re this scheme.

There is so much information on this that I will be all day typing this but it goes into Next Steps, Performance Issues, Reduction of Non-Elective Admissions, reductions in delayed transfer of care   – just skimmed through this and nothing really applies to Elizabeth as she is not under care thank goodness.   However, it then goes on to talk about Enablement Services and this is something that Elizabeth has not wanted anything to do with and especially since all that has happened.  “To embed the use of “trusted assessor capacity” in order to make assistive technology a key part of the enablement offer”.   As Dr Johnson would say “Truth Trust and Consent” –  We were taken to court, bullied, harassed and serious allegations have been made about “someone?” that the Director of Psychosis recommends files not to be released.  This was around the time they were trying to force return her back into care.  When the most nasty comments are said behind your backs, not only about me but my carers too and the threat of a CTO being planned behind your back, severance of contact with family and deprival of liberty how can someone be expected to trust and work together with  professionals who have on their agenda to take you to court time and time again?      I as a mother have been accused of standing in the way /interfering with “care” however I have left every message on my answerphone for Elizabeth to contact various people if she so wishes and she has made it clear she does not wish to go to another area for their clinic and what is more it would appear we were being recorded last time on someone’s phone.  I completely understand how she feels and my carers feel the same way too.  If only there were such a thing as Open Diaglogue but there is nothing like this in my local area and allegations made can be so serious that they cannot be dismissed by carers and all of this has affected working relationship with the team.    Now that Elizabeth is no longer in a care home hundreds of miles away from home I have evidence of not only how well she is doing at home but as to how someone vulnerable was not being properly supported as far as money is concerned whilst in care.    An allowance of £30 a week is apparently was given at the care home and this is supposed to cover all food etc for the week and if that allowance is overspent then that resident goes without food at the weekends.  This sounds very unsatisfactory to me.   I agree that residents should be encouraged to budget but someone who has been in hospital along time needs a lot of support.    This has happened to Elizabeth as I can see and  I do not know how many times that this occurred but no attempt was made to contact anyone in the family to provide extra funding.  Besides the team would have no idea of what it is like to be on high quantities of mind altering drugs which impair thinking ability at times.   When so much money is being spent on such “supportive care” in terms of care homes then there should not be any instances where residents go without food at weekends.  Elizabeth was going downhill yet was being pushed to go back to this care home and I would like to know how much extra funding it cost for a CTO to be arranged.  No wonder the consultant psychiatrist was “happy” to manage Elizabeth on a CTO –  I would like to hear how much is spent on this.   It should never have arisen that a vulnerable patient like Elizabeth who had been stuck in care for three years should be allowed to go without any food ever!.

The local Council go on to mention Dementia and this is something else I have had experience with regarding my father who had Alzheimers and who I kept out of a care home for man years and whom is no longer alive.  I had 24 hr care in place with my father paying for parts of his care and Direct Payments so that I could provide carers and this arrangement worked so well for numerous years.   There was a brilliant team involved.  Crossroads, Age Concern, a private agency, my own carers and Day Centre but transport.  It took up a lot of my time caring for my father and this meant I could not have holidays etc.  I was pleased that I kept my father out of going into a care home.   I am not allowed to speak of what happened to him but he died aged 90 but had to undergo a hip operation.   My father had two brilliant social workers who worked with the family extremely well.   I wish I could say that about Elizabeth.

Next was discussed Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC)  – reporting on the Care Act 2014.

Briefly the local Council received a report in Feb 2015 setting out key requirements of the Care Act 2014.  The Care Act summarised “general duty on local authorities to promote ‘individuals’ wellbeing and the intentions of the Act to rebalance adult social care towards prevention, wellbeing and independence.”  So they are accumulating data about costs of care in care homes and comparative figures with other London Boroughs.  In relation to impact of funding reforms and introduction of individual personal budgets IPBs which at the time of Feb 0SC meeting were due to be introduced in 2016 but now postponed by 4 yrs.   Well that is very interesting!

Care Act funding reforms include cap on costs of care due to come into force in April 2016 but Gov announced recently delayed until April 2020.  The reason for this delay will allow time to be taken to ensure everyone is ready to introduce the new system and look at what more can be done to support people with costs of care.  The announcement was made by letter from the Care and Support Minister Alistair Burt to the Chair of the London Government Association (LGA).   There are so many other points listed but applicable to Elizabeth is Point 4.,3 Local Authorities must promote wellbeing when carrying out any of their care and support functions in respect of a person  This is sometimes referred to as the “wellbeing principle” because it is a guiding principle that puts wellbeing at the heart of care and support.  Wellbeing is a broad concept and is described in the Act as relating to the following areas:

Personal dignity    –    What is personal dignity when a drug such as Clozapine is deprived for nearly four days etc.   What  is personal dignity when no one bothered in the first instance when Elizabeth decided to come home, apart from making every attempt to destroy the family and force return her back into care.

Physical and mental health and emotional well being  “I wish they would leave me alone, Mum – when is all this going to end” – Elizabeth’s comments when we were being taken to court and regarded as a ‘special case’“.

Protection from abuse and neglect –  at least at home Elizabeth does not go without food.  She is being encouraged to be independent and is no longer treated as a ‘prisoner’.  At least she is not in a coercive environment being forced to choose between Mum and Dad and can see the rest of the family whenever she wants.

Control by individual over day to day life –  at least Elizabeth is not being written about in a nasty way any more.  I am trying to provide things that encourage her to go out bearing in mind her Agoraphobia which she has developed since being wrongly incarcerated for several years.  I am trying to help Elizabeth become independent with her money too but am giving a bit more than just £30 per week, encouraging Elizabeth to make shopping lists etc and today Elizabeth was handed her bank card to do her shopping and was encouraged to walk halfway up the road which she did on her own although every so often Elizabeth had to grab the walls as she feels dizzy.

Participation in work, education, training or recreation.    As Eliizabeth is on a “high level” of Clozapine she is very limited to what she can do.  She feels dizzy as though she is going to fall – even on taking her to the zumba classes she has to stand close to the wall .  Socially  she is doing well away from MH care as she is mixing in with people who are either ‘surviviors’ or people unaffected with MH issues.  Although she has lost tremendous confidence she is making every effort to go out socialising and taking part in conferences and organisations such as ISPS and their workshops.   If the drugs were reduced. then that would be good but in my area they drug people at high levels so I have seen in the files and ignore the patient when that patient requests to be reduced.  They could save money if they gave less drugs and especially if they offered the tests that I have had to turn to Holland for.

Social and economic wellbeing – at home Elizabeth does not go without and valuable things do not go missing.  Socially Elizabeth is benefitting by going to lots of different events and being with her family at home and seeing her cat on a day to day basis.

Suitability of living accommodation.   Elizabeth has her own room, surrounded by her possessions and she an come and go as she pleases as she has a key and is not restricted and treated with dignity but at the same time is encouraged to clean and do her own chores and now I am hoping to help her on money and managing it as well as the internet .   Therefore it is very suitable to be home .

The individual’s contribution to society –   by having Eliizabeth home I am saving £60000 in care home fees whilst nothing whatsoever is provided but Elizabeth is on last resort drug Clozapine which renders her disabled.  Elizabeth does not want to see certain people and neither do my carers.  This is for very good reasons.   There are no facilities where someone can go in to be reduced from these drugs and once someone is given a label by a consultant psychiatrist that label sticks for life unless you can prove there is a physical illness. This is why I hope Chy Sawel can be set up looking  properly at nutrition and minimal drugs unlike current care on many acute wards.   I would love Elizabeth to one day have a job but right now and having been in care for c three years she struggles to do some essential and basic chores such as washing up and cleaning effectively, throwing away rubbish etc – she is too afraid to even go out however she is really trying and does not refuse to tidy up, do washing, ironing and household chores.  She is no longer in bed at 6.00 pm which is good.  The best thing I have come across  is direct payments but this has never been given to Elizabeth and if this was to be given I would be able to provide a therapist to work on Elizabeth’s ability to go out alone but in my local area families are excluded and confidentiality played upon so if for instance there are for example any appointments Elizabeth may have been advised of ,  if family are not advised then things can be overlooked and Elizabeth would need help in getting there at the moment.  You are treated like you are invisible as a parent apart from when a team want to get rid of you by way of court and then you are regarded as “special”.    I felt like speaking about Open Dialogue at this Scrutiny Meeting as this would I think bring about massive improvements.   I am doubtful this would be considered in my local area especially if meetings such as this are held in secret and this goes against the wonderful idea of Open Dialogue as this is all about openness, honesty and trust as well as inclusion..  There are plenty of organisations giving advice and information but in reality  it comes down to money  this is not always being given to provide for those who are vulnerable and there is blatent discrimination in some cases especially when someone disagrees about care and diagnosis.   Instead funding is being spent on in-house services, private sector care, incarceration and court of course whereas it should be spent on providing those with MH problems to be integrated into society with the right level of support.  A social worker once said “Elizabeth will be happier with her own kind”.    How very wrong this social worker is with her comments.  I have proven otherwise and comments like this make you wonder how some professionals can even comment on what is the best interest for someone.

Mention is made of carers assessments and I have not had one.   I have seen much discrimination and undignified treatment in my local area concerning Elizabeth and despite all reservations by certain team members after, 1 year and  three months since Elizabeth has come home everything has worked wonderfully.   Having been taken to court so many times results in you just wanting to stay clear of such people who have their own agenda and think they know the family but they do not.  You do not know what they are saying about you –  they might be nice to your face but behind your back are saying the most nasty things and everything is being recorded and now I have obtained all of this.  This is why I would like to see Open Dialogue as you can trust professionals this way and this is why I like the ISPS organisation as service users and carers are treated with dignity and professionals who really care attend such conferences.  In Tornio, Finland MH patients are treated with dignity and respect unlike in the UK and the UK should stop wasting time in presenting all these figures and provide what is needed open transparent care that provides dignity and honesty and inclusion to parents/service users alike.

As for Safeguarding Adults – not one incident at home unlike whilst under care as I can see.

Anyway, I was amazed that I was the only one present at this meeting from the public and I think more people should attend such meetings and take an interest in what is going on.  I do not think Elizabeth would have enjoyed sitting around for 2 and a half hrs but feel like bringing her to a future meeting (part of) so that everyone can scrutinise how well she is doing at home and look towards saving money by not spending it on expensive court actions.  They also need to look at equality and discrimination and I see this being a major problem in my area.  So I presented my local Councillor with my story called “Get Her Back We are Paying for That”.   She was unable to answer me when I asked how comes no one intervened as deprived the chemical Clozapine leaving Elizabeth without this chemical for 4 days.  The main excuse to get rid of me is my views on the chemicals but as far as I am concerned I have the best interests as all I would like to see is the minimal level of drugs, bearing in mind physical health.  So the team are in favour of the drugging of Elizabeth with this chemical for life but they do not stop to consider physical health and this is where I as a mother have had to go to the very top and contact those who fully know the workings of the drugs and this has taken me beyond the UK to Holland.  How wrong they were to assume that I would just stop giving this chemical just because of my own views even though my views happen to be correct.   In fact it was certain team members who were responsible for depriving this drug as they made it impossible to get it anywhere in the local area forcing me to have to go to Harley Street and beyond.  I told the Scrutiny Committee at the end of the meeting that I had to turn to Holland for help for accurate treatment and that no one will be able to argue with such accurate results and how these results could benefit everyone and should be adopted by the NHS so that everyone can benefit by being on the lowest possible dosage and assessing for adverse drug reactions before giving the treatment on a trial and error basis.   I am still waiting for these results in full but I am delighted to hear from the Professor as I expected that Elizabeth is unable to metabolize some anti-depressants.  This proves my point.  Bearing in mind the first chemical given was Prozac this puts into question the diagnosis and treatment as consultant psychiatrists should not just jump to conclusions without proper evidence based data and  I hope to present the full facts to the Scrutiny panel at a future meeting – that is if they have not banned the public altogether by that time.

Anyway, now turning to my week.   I had an accident on Monday that left me lying in the road – a hit and run driver who lost her wing mirror.  Had it been the car itself that hit me I may not be around today however I was not going to miss the Liberty Awards for anything and I refused to go to hospital.  I would praise some bystanders, complete strangers who stepped in to help me , the police and ambulance services were brilliant.   I will write about the Liberty awards next time.

Yesterday I took Elizabeth out with me all day.   Together we took part in the Contour Makeup Artist Course and afterwards ”  I wanted to go out somewhere nice.    I took Elizabeth to a wonderful pub in Fulham for lunch and then onto a show – we saw the fabulous show Memphis which I would highly recommend Today I have plenty to catch up on so this blog is being done very quickly so I apologise for any spelling mistakes however the facts and information are 100% correct.  I would also state that I have been looking at “Open House”  I have probably left it too late to book for some buildings as this is due to take place next weekend.   I would not mind going to Downing Street but most importantly I would like to meet Mr Cameron and Mr Hunt –  there is much to be discussed as far as mental health care goes and I would like to see choice in care being given and facilities to properly assess and check for underlying physical illness and to be reduced off these mind altering drugs especially when diagnosis and treatment is in question in terms of ‘treatment resistance’ – POOR OR NON METABOLISER. Look at what money could be saved by giving less drugs (minimal levels) and proper tests like I am having done in Holland and as already said these tests should be available to everyone in my opinion.  I would also like to speak to them about the  court system and the way vulnerable people are not being treated fairly and not forgetting those who are given up on – those who are incarcerated for many years and deprived of their human rights to see their family and visit home.  I know many cases such as this and this is costing the taxpayer a fortune.  It would be cheaper to give direct payments to their families and work together using the open dialogue method.

Last of all I am looking forward to attending the conference MORE HARM THAN GOOD at Roehampton University – looking forward to meeting everyone and taking Elizabeth along to this.

My next blog will be about the Liberty Awards and  this wonderful conference.

Elizabeth has been at home now for one year and three months without any problem whatsoever.

We have had to rely on close friends and family to help us since she came home from the care home.   Without the help of the close friends and close family none of this would be possible and I rely on such help as blood tests have to be carried out, chemicals collected and blood packs collected from another location in another area.

During the titration of Clozapine close friends remained with Elizabeth all day whilst the team would come in twice a day and were supplying their reports back to social services as we were once regarded as a special case for court.  We have had problems with the supply of these drugs before on more than one occasion.  During the titration there was one instance where nurses tried to take away the chemical Clozapine and tried to revert to twice daily visits rather than once a day as had been requested by both Elizabeth and carers.  The team tried to take back the drugs  to resume twice daily visits at my home as they were ordered to and they were asking very intrusive questions so it was quite obvious what was going on and now I have the files to prove this.  Another occasion carers were turned away from a local clinic and were told to go to the neighbouring Borough to this Wellbeing Clinic where Elizabeth has made it clear to everyone she does not wish to attend and this is where social services are based. On the one occasion Elizabeth attended this clinic it was obvious we were being recorded on one of the nurses mobile phones and apparently there was a problem with this recording and I commented only to be told this was normal practise.  Well I do not see this as good practise at all.

This is what my carer was faced with this week when calling to collect the drugs from the local hospital:

At pharmacy carer was told “Haven’t you been told you now collect the drugs where you have the blood test done?”  No we knew nothing about any change in arrangements as this arrangement had been going on for a long time without any problems.

My carer then went to the reception of the blood test department and my carer said the following “I have come to collect the drugs for Elizabeth and I understand the drugs are now delivered here”

The Blood Test Unit then said “Oh no we do not get the drugs here”

My carer said “The pharmacy told me they are here for collection”

Blood Test Unit “No we do not have any drugs here”

My carer then went back to the pharmacy  and spoke to the pharmacist and said “the drugs are not here”

Pharmacist said “where do you have the blood tests done”

Carer – “at this hospital”

Pharmacist:  “They are not here but they are at a clinic called Wellbeing” (this clinic is a long distance away and in another area – this is the clinic that Elizabeth does not wish to attend”

Carer “I am not going there and can only collect on Saturday”

Pharmacist “Oh I will get the drugs back then for you to collect on Saturday morning and the Pharmacy is open on Saturday morning”.

The Wellbeing Clinic is where social services are based.    Elizabeth has already said she does not wish to go there – we were being recorded and this is not right.   The clinic is situated a long distance from home in an area that does not hold good memories for Elizabeth in any case and Elizabeth was not keen to attend on that one occasion but we were put in a position of no choice as we were turned away from the pharmacy at the local hospital.    It is more awkward for my carers to attend all this distance and I can quite understand why no one wants to go there as there is an investigation going on re missing files on serious allegations and “good plans” between social services and care home.

I am happy I attended  the Council’s Scrutiny Meeting where I was the only member of the public present.  I was told to leave at first so that the Scrutiny meeting could be conducted in secret –   I had to sit out for the first half an hour.

Anyway I wrote to the local councillor I met at this Scrutiny Meeting about the problems we have encountered in picking up the chemicals.  She has written back to me to say that this was due to an administrative error.  I have written to say that my carers have to go to both hospital and neighbouring Borough to collect the blood packs separately.   This is not very good at all in my opinion.    I will write more about the Scrutiny Meeting later as I have not had a chance to properly  study all the paperwork.   I am not sure that Elizabeth would have enjoyed the meeting as much as some of the conferences we have attended.  However I did mention that Elizabeth may wish to come to a future meeting – it is up to her but I am always happy to take her along with me.

Today I went attended the local hospital myself with one of my carers and the chemicals were finally there.  If I had not written to my local councillor they may not have been there.

Unfortunately all of this has meant that the morning has been disrupted. Elizabeth and I would normally go to the Zumba class but instead we have to sort out about getting the drugs which were running short.

Without the help of my carers Elizabeth would not be at home today and once under a care system is rife with control and coercion I may not have been allowed contact with my daughter as they were saying “to whom does she want contact”.   This was all being planned and extra funding being arranged for a CTO and why should Elizabeth be on a CTO – this alone is stigmatising and unnecessary.  I am very pleased that Elizabeth told me how she was put in the position by medical professionals to choose between Mum and Dad and how she did not think this was fair.  When I mentioned this to the lady assigned to investigating my complaint which was very serious as drugs were denied for four days and this resulted in court in a case for “Deprival of Medication” – this person could not see anything wrong with putting a patient in that position.   Anyway the team then decided to take the matter to the Court of Protection to deprive liberty, sever contact, restrict visiting rights and force return Elizabeth to a care home hundreds of miles away from home.   This is all very wrong.    Also at home Elizabeth is not going without food because at the care home if she had run out of money or could not manage to budget properly there was no food at weekends – well this is what I have clearly read from the files.

Speaking of food, I have confronted Jamie Oliver and his campaign on sugar – I would like to see Jamie Oliver involved with an even bigger challenge MH care – nutrition.  The NHS  pushes enormous quantities of powerful mind altering drugs at MH patients and they do not work- this is why I have had to turn to Rotterdam to get accurate treatment from the world’s leading expert in metabolism.  I believe that nutrition is particularly important when you are on mind altering chemicals and I had all the tests done twice at Bio Lab to prove my point but such tests are not recognised by the NHS:   Here are a few more things Jamie Oliver should be looking at mentioned in the hand written piece by guest blogger Stephen who comes round to my house to advise Elizabeth on health eating d is a good cook too.   What is in the food that we all consume available in supermarkets and passed as being “safe”?    I was very keen to feature this on my blog as this not only affects MH patients but the wider public and their mental and physical wellbeing.    Here are some highlights that Jamie Oliver should look closely at in addition to just sugar:

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) –   All you  have to do is look at the product label and avoid anything with MSG and its ‘E’ number code which is E621, often hidden under “flavour enhancers or flavouring”.

Avoid anything with Glutamate in ingredients/anything with ‘……….protein (ie why protein isolate)/autolyzed yeast, gelatin, ‘hydrolyzed’ ie hydrolysed vegetable protein, sodium caseinate or calcium caseinate/yeast extrat.

It has been publicised recently about ASpartame (artificial sweetener leading to migraines, depression, weight gain, Parkinsons, multiple sclerosis and various types of cancer.   Shame on the FDA – the FDA petitioned for aspartame to be added to milk! without even having to label.

Avoid Saccharin, Sucralose, Sorbitol and Acesulfame-K confusingly labelled Acesulfame Potassiuim.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (food fraud – adulteration with refined oils)

Rapeseed Oil – often found in humous – back in 1956 this oil was  banned for human consumption by the FDA.

Synthetic D2 – see “Why don’t you Want to Rely on Fortified foods” by Dr Mercola.

Non-organic cartons of “alternative milks (containing synthetic form of Vit D called D2 (ergocalciferol).

Fortified Breakfast Cereals – iron used to fortify cereals is not only synthetic but enriched with toxic iron fillings.   Ensure you are getting enough bio available iron.  See You Tube video by Dr Thomas Levy) – His website lists an article on “why it is not necessary to fortify with iron (because high iron levels in the blood are toxic).

Fortified white wheat flour.

Stephen goes on to mention many more things featured on my website under “Guest Blogger – Stephen”.  Well done for such a valid contribution to my website.

I must admit when I go shopping I have never stopped to closely read the labelling but maybe everybody should be fully aware of.

It  is not just sugar – there is much more than this to consider.

Anyway I had better stop here as I have no end of things to do and tonight Elizabeth and I are helping at the Homeless Supper.

If I get a chance I will write about this Scrutiny Meeting and I have got another meeting next week I can tell you all about.  I can hardly wait to attend this meeting and I am looking forward to the CEP’s conference too.

Before I end this blog, Elizabeth has finally had her referral to the larger scanner in Harley Street.    It is not the first time I have had to take Elizabeth to Harley Street but I feel need to take a day off for this visit.

Elizabeth stayed with the rest of the family this weekend. This has given me a break and lots of opportunity to catch up on things in the home Saturday I met up today with some members of Speak Out Against Psychiatry.

It is usually impossible for me to get on with so much as I only have the weekends and I am alwayst taking Elizabeth to various places over the weekend.

Not having Elizabeth has given me to get on with some writing and I have had lots of letters to write this weekend.   I will tell you more about these in due course but one letter I had to write was to the Neurologist and put him in the picture regarding the referral of the larger scanner.   I keep having to put the appointment back and I am getting fed up with this and it would seem that the GP is asking the Neurologist to do the referral and now he is asking the GP.  I can see I may have no option but to take some time off to sort this out.   I have requested from both the names of those concerned in authorising such referral.

Anyway Elizabeth had a nice time away with the rest of the family and we had a visit today from my guest blogger, Stephen who has been advising Elizabeth on healthy eating.

I have heard from the Professor in Holland but I will tell you all about this when I get the full results in due course.  At least I know these results will be based accurate and not on a  trial and error basis.  These tests could benefit everyone and ultimately save money.   Not one doctor would help with the analysis but when you are prepared to pay you find there are doctors who are very good in helping.

There are a few events coming up which I wish to attend and I will write about these due course.  I have always to ensure that someone is with Elizabeth as such events at the end of the day would be too much for her.

I am in touch with a quite a few mothers right now who have sons and daughters incarcerated in “secure” wards when they should not be on such wards and have never committed any crimes or are a risk to society. There is a real need for change in the system that keeps such young people incarcerated for many years to the point of disablement and there is no consideration given to the physical health of these vulnerable patients who are given enormous quantities of drugs.    I am hoping to share what I am doing in due course and hope such establishments will listen and take on board the need for accuracy in assessing.  I can tell you that I am already pleased with what I have been told so far.

There also needs to be more legal support available for families who wish to have their sons/daughters/relatives out from hospital.  It is totally unjustified to write someone off like rubbish when there are many who have not committed crimes and are stuck in their situation because they have become dependant and cannot manage in the community to look after themselves properly.    It would cheaper to give support to families and carers instead.   Whilst we have no support in my area if I can have Elizabeth home then so can some of the other mothers.    How can anyone get better if they are put in an environment where family contact is discouraged and security is so tight- worse than prison. The parents I am in touch with should be given support and assistance if it is the wish of the patient to come home and the patient should be listened to and given that  chance.   It is very wrong to use coercion in trying to influence someone vulnerable in their decisions and someone who is weakened by high levels of drugs.  When Elizabeth first came home she was very quiet but she is speaking up now and it is good for her to come to the conferences I have been attended and meet the wonderful professionals who I cant thank enough –  other professionals should learn by their good example and this is what I like about the organisation ISPS – when you have had a bad experience it is very encouraging to meet those who are in favour of change and supportive of things like open dialogue.

There needs to be transparency but confidentiality can sometimes be played upon for the wrong reasons.

I posted on Twitter about Court of Protection today.  I have certainly not had bad experiences as far as this Court is concerned however I am critical of a system that does not protect the weak and vulnerable and allows discrimination and the outcome of some such cases should be looked at very carefully –  I cannot say too much at the moment as I am waiting to hear more but I definitely feel disabled people are not treated fairly and when some have been made disabled because of being drugged for many years, misdiagnosed etc then I feel this should be carefully looked at to ensure a fair outcome in court.

Occasionally I like to feature guest bloggers and Stephen is knowledgeable about ingredients and healthy eating.

It is great that Stephen has a good influence on Elizabeth when it comes to diet and he has come out shopping to suggest healthy alternatives.  Sometimes you do not get listened to as a mother and I am throwing away all the unhealthy takeaway brochures that come through our letter box so I thought I would feature something a little different as healthy eating is essential to mental health wellbeing.   As a mother who wishes to see Chy Sawel set up offering an alternative to excessive drugging of enormous quantities (and I am not the only mother who feels this way) I hope you will like the article I am featuring.  It certainly gave me something to think about when I went shopping with Elizabeth and Stephen as I would just buy without studying the labels and now I pay more attention.  GUEST BLOGGER – Stephen   (press view rotate view as it is scanned upside down!) –  I wanted to fit in every word and do not have the time to type it up right now.   When I get more time I shall do this but, in addition, Stephen has some good videos and one I particularly like which would be most relevant to this blog.