CEO Report
My name is Sarah and I am the Chief Executive at Hunts Mind. Before coming to Hunts Mind I have worked in a variety of mental health settings, community services, residential homes, therapeutic communities and prisons; all of these experiences have been hugely different but mostly they have been precious. I have been very lucky to work within the voluntary sector for my entire career for organisations that in the most part were user led and focused on providing meaningful and therapeutic services.
What I think I have learnt in my 14 years in mental health is that if you can build trusting and honest relationships with service users positive change and recovery can occur. What I have found while working at Hunts Mind, an organisation with a proven track record of providing user led services is a deep commitment to the individuals we work with and an active desire to enable them to reach their potential. Like most contemporary services we embrace the principles of the Recovery Model that allows us to freely explore with individuals their ideas about how their recovery might look like and what we can do to help get there.
In my three years at Hunts Mind I have observed some wonderful examples of 'Recovery in Motion' an emphasis on making things happen. I have also been saddened by the stories that our service users have told and been amazed at their courage for taking the steps towards some getting help.
Hunts Mind and the Current Political and Economic Climate
It is hard in today’s political and economic climate to clearly establish a sense of stability, we know that within health and social care the changes can feel un-necessary and ineffective. Financial pressure is the permanent backdrop for providers of mental health services. Each year we have to re-evaluate our viability and think about how we can manage resources more closely. What is most difficult about this process is balancing the available resources with what service users need. Hunts Mind works particularly hard to incorporate the financial restraints into service development and planning while working closely with service users in order to reach helpful conclusions about what services we can feasibly deliver. We continue to expand our funding portfolio and hope to be able to develop new services as well as preserve the current ones.
Aside from the financial pressure there is still a worrying momentum behind the proposed Mental Health Bill which in our view compromises the ability of service users to engage in their care and recovery in a meaningful way. As an organisation affiliated to Mind we strongly agree with the statement below;
Mind and the Mental Health Alliance—a unique coalition of 78 organisations committed to better mental health legislation—are convinced that to let this Bill pass without serious amendments would be to fail an already disadvantaged section of our society and to miss a great opportunity. I share those views. I agree with my noble friend Lord Warner that the time is right for a major rethink and revaluation of mental health. Sadly, this Bill does not do that.
Lord Bragg, Mind President, House of Lords debate on the Mental Health Bill, 28 November 2006.
We are concerned with what might occur if service users were forced to undergo treatment in the community in light of significant evidence to suggest that forced treatment will not necessarily work in the long term. Organisations like Hunts Mind focus on developing relationships with service users that encourage their sense of self worth and their potential the result is often their commitment to the help that is on offer, their defences coming down each day. It is our view that the mental health bill is a knee jerk reaction to some frightening stories about mental illness and although some terrible incidences have occurred it does not make sense to revert to a practice of force when we know it is unlikely to work.
It is therefore so important to recognise that mental health services are not just battling with fiscal demands but are also in a world of enormous ethical and moral dilemma about how to balance the needs of service users within an ambivalent political climate.
There is hope within this often unsettling time. Hunts Mind has thought a lot about the strategic implications of the future and has focused on one area that ultimately strengthens our organisations capacity to provide quality services and choice – PARTNERSHIP.
Partnership
Our key partner has always been mental health service users in the decision making, planning and delivery of services. Over the years important links were created with Cambridgeshire Adult Learning in order to set up services like the Rock Group in Huntingdon. This first and crucial partnership has since paved the way for other developments.
We have also worked closely with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Partnership Trust and alongside their Huntingdon services have run joint groups and other activities. We have also been able to share ideas and together created the local area Partnership Agreement in 2005. Although the trusts structure has changed significantly since that first agreement we are working to ensure the continuity of the principles and values that underpin our future work together.
In July 2006 in conjunction with Turning Point Huntingdonshire Area we launched the Huntingdonshire Mental Health Providers Forum. The group was formed to focus on local issues particularly affecting the voluntary sector. The group so far has met to explore the changes to local statutory agencies and how that affects services and therefore service users. The group meets on a six weekly basis in order to share ideas and offer mutual support. If you would like any further information about this please contact Pauline Mansfield or Sarah Hughes.
There are other partnerships too that have helped us to develop a variety of services. For instance we run the Borderline Personality Disorder Group in conjunction with POP and the allotment group with Hunts District Council. These partnerships are meant to create a balanced approach to mental health services and some capacity building within the voluntary sector.
We are always keen to work in partnership with other mental health organisations but also those who are working within the community to support other groups such as Dial Drug Link, Alzheimer’s Society and Citizens Advice Bureau. We understand that mental distress is not a stand alone problem instead it co-exists with every other aspect of their life; we try to hold onto the whole person.
Hunts Mind is also testing the boundaries of expected partnerships within the voluntary sector and in the spirit of social inclusion is making alliances with non mental health organisations, individuals and groups. This is so that service users who perhaps want to explore their skills and social prowess can feel less stigmatised when approaching every day activities. For instance we have worked with the local gyms to ensure our service users felt able to use it on their own terms. Recently we have teamed up with Huntingdon District Councils Healthy Walks Team and have already organised joint information and events.
Social Exclusion is a powerful term and in relation to mental health it gives rise to an image of people who are isolated from the ordinary expectations of every individual. All the aspects of life that are so important to our sense of identity and status, such as education, employment, social life and leisure are often compromised by the experience of mental distress. I remember talking with service users about going swimming once and the thought terrified them, the joy I had experienced on my own swimming trips had eluded them. It therefore makes sense that we would like to try and make these ordinary experiences less frightening. We are aiming for partnerships with organisations that can offer a non discriminatory experience for service users; they do not have to have a sophisticated understanding of mental health issues simply a level of understanding about how difficult it can be to do something new so for instance if you run a choir we know a few good singers! Contact Sarah.
