Tuesday 6 May 2014

Barnet, Enfield and Harringey trust failing mental health patients

This morning the BBC is reporting on the failure of Barnet Enfield and Harringey Trust to provide adequate care for patients with mental illness. The BBC website said
A London trust - Barnet, Enfield and Haringey - has been reprimanded by the regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), for using seclusion units as bedrooms. It also started to move patients out of beds and into bed-and-breakfast accommodation. The figures show that 132 people were sent to B&Bs last year.  The trust said the patients were fit to be discharged from hospital but had accommodation problems - however, it admitted it was not ideal for patients.
 Full details are here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27285555 - The Barnet Eye believes this is a scandalous failure of vulnerable people putting not only the patients, but the rest of the public in Barnet at risk. It shows that cuts have gone to far and that health is not taken seriously in Barnet.

A spokesman for mind said
Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: "It is a disgrace that people with mental health problems are being sent miles away from family and friends or being accommodated in inappropriate settings when they are acutely unwell. "This is the latest in a long line of clear signals that, at least in some parts of the country, NHS mental health services are in crisis. Continued cuts to funding for mental health services are taking a significant toll on the quality and availability of services."


1 comment:

John Sullivan said...


Mental health issues in Barnet was one of the many questions I asked of our local so called MP Mr Offord that he chose not to comment upon.

In fact he voiced no opinionated all on a long list of questions I presented to him regarding our failing local NHS services.

This time instead of hiding in the back of a police van,he chose to hide behind the skirts of a representative of Barnet Clinical Commissioning Group, who have a vested interest in presenting a pretty picture rather than the full facts.

I am amazed Mr Offford has no opinions of his own regarding local NHS services, including the mental health issue you raise in this blog.