The Whittington Hospital: a sinking ship?

Like many north Londoners, I have marched to save the Whittington several times. I have attended meetings, and spoken out about planned bed closures, endless reorganisations and staff shortages. Last week, I attended the hospital as a patient for day surgery; my gallbladder was removed using keyhole surgery.

We have all read stories about the crisis the NHS is in; government cuts, and a constant move to outsourcing and privatisation are having negative consequences for patients across the country. However, nothing prepared me for how much the Whittington would have declined since I was last admitted there in 2011.

The first thing to mention was the filthy state of the hospital. When I arrived at 7.30 am, I saw most, if not all, of the hospital workers entering completely ignoring the very prominent hand sanitising stations; I seemed to be the only person availing myself of them. I thought that perhaps the workers would be cleaning their hands when they reached their areas of work, and dismissed my concern. However, as the day wore on, I saw more and more alarming signs. A bin on the day treatment ward, metres from where people lay recovering from operations, was overflowing. A full bag of rubbish sat on top of the bin, into the bargain.

A nurse, attending one of my dressings, asked my partner to help, without first asking her to wash her hands, despite her just having arrived. 

Another nurse, having dropped the disposable peak flow mouthpiece on the floor, looked at it for a moment and then fixed it to the machine and offered it to me to put in my mouth.

A toilet was so caked in excrement at one point that I felt obliged to find an alternative one. 

There was no soap in a hand dispenser...next to a big sign about how important it was to wash one's hands.

Apart from the issue of hygiene, there was clearly low, nay no, morale amongst staff. I do not want to criticise the staff; low paid, working long hours, mismanaged and undervalued, I am an awe of nurses. There was clearly tension between nurses and their superiors; at one point, after being criticised, I think by a doctor, one nurse walked away muttering "how stupid do you think I am? God help us..." It is not reassuring for patients to hear this sort of altercation.

One of the issues we have heard much about in terms of the Whittington is the planned bed closures, and the worries that it would have adverse effects on healthcare out outcomes. Last year, in an apparent u-turn, the Whittington board stated that there would be no bed closures. However, in their report, they said, 'changes to wards and beds will still happen...these are dependent on services continuing to be commissioned at the Whittington Hospital.' (1)

When I remained in a lot of pain, to the extent that I fainted at one point, and when one of my incisions kept seeping through the dressing, it was reluctantly suggested that I stay overnight. The nurse in charge of my care at that point explained that there were no beds and so they would need to get rid of someone else before offering me a bed. I waited for several hours, in pain and afraid, but also angry that our vital NHS had deteriorated to this appalling extent.

When I was finally taken to Coyle ward, the nurse who took me there struggled for some time to find a nurse to hand me over to. "Is there a nurse on the ward?" she incredulously asked out loud, walking from bay to bay. Several emergency response alarms were constantly going off at once, as people buzzed in vain for medical attendance. Later, an elderly woman got out of her bed and, holding onto a wall, asked my partner and I to help her find a nurse. She was clearly desperate and distressed.

Another woman was informed that she could go home that night, but they wouldn't be able to give her any pain medication to take home, as they had run out.

I myself kept asking for pain medication, and was eventually given some. It was shortly after that point that I decided to go home. I explained to the nurses that I felt it was the safer option, and that the hospital was in meltdown. They tacitly agreed.

The next day we managed to procure me some painkillers through the out of hours service, which was very efficient. When my partner explained the experience we had had at the Whittington, a doctor replied "well, you should have had a better experience than that, but I am not surprised to hear about it."

The fact is though, what I have described above is scandalous. We should be surprised; we should be outraged.

I never once believed that having less beds and more 'ambulatory care' was anything other than a cost-cutting measure, and my experience, and clearly that of others, has sadly proved that. One hears of winter bed crises; one wonders if they can be so short of beds now, in September, how much worse it can get, and how may lives that will cost?

(1)  http://ourfuture.whittington.nhs.uk/changes-to-plans/

Babies don't make money, and other revelations.

Yesterday I attended an open day at the Whittington Hospital. I was interested to see the buildings that the trust are planning to sell off, and so booked myself, along with my husband and two children, on the tour.

We were led by Phlip Ient, the Whittington’s Director of Estates and Facilities. The first building we viewed, albeit from the outside, was Waterlow, which is the big big brick building on Highgate Hill, straight after the ‘Whittington & Cat’ pub. The building has been empty for ten years, having originally been part of the mental health services accommodation.

Behind this building was historically nurses’ accommodation. It looks quite dilapidated from the outside but it is still occupied, now by medical students, letting them live right next to their place of study at very modest prices. Once this is sold off, medical students will instead live in accommodation on Sussex Way. Although of a much better standard, this accommodation will cost students about three times as much.

We asked whether this might deter some students from studying medicine, seeing as a degree in medicine is already reported to cost students somewhere in the region of £100,000? Mr Ient said that many students already take advantage of the better accommodation at Sussex Way. What he neglected to say was that many of them do not, and are currently residing in the accommodation at the Whittington, which they are planning to sell off.

On the other side of this building, on the ground floor the Whittington currently houses the physiotherapy department. I have made use of these services myself and can report that the staff were excellent and the service first class. Mr Ient explained that they need to move the physio department into the main hospital because it would be “better”. Better, how, I asked? He replied that people cannot find where it is at the moment. I responded by saying that I had never had a problem finding it, probably because there are lots of signs up and my appointment letter came complete with a map.

We then discussed the issue of the maternity wing, which needs modernisation – no arguments there. I know many women who have given birth at the Whittington and have reported that the facilities are positively Victorian. Mr Ient said that they needed to improve or they would lose ‘business’ to better maternity services, such as those at University College Hospital.

He said that they are aiming to increase births to around 6000 per year. I asked why then, in the original plans, they had said they were ‘capping’ births at 4000 per year? “We made a mistake there,” he admitted. “Well, I did.”

“When it comes to maternity services,” he explained, “it doesn’t make any money for us. We just about make the money back that we put in, but that’s about it.”

We found it staggering that he was talking as though the NHS, and, by extension, the issue of life and death, was a money-making venture. Profits and loses. But then, with the marketisation of our health service, introduced by Labour and carrying on apace under the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition, that is exactly what we have now. It is thoroughly depressing, as all health campaigners will attest.

I asked why, when the Care Quality Commission reported just two weeks ago that the Whittington was doing well in all areas except putting patients on the correct wards, due to lack of beds, they are planning to close a further 177 beds over the next five years? I was given the answer that, because of the way they planned to care for people at home, they would not need beds as much any more. Reiterating the point that the board members keep making, that the ‘clinical advice’ is that keeping people in hospital is a bad idea, he explained that there would be  60 beds closed initially, with the space being used as an open-plan admin space. If, he went on, there were more beds needed again in the future, they could turn the space back into a ward. Why don’t I believe that would be likely to happen?

In conclusion, we went home with Ham’n’High bags full of crap for the kids (they foisted these on us, naturally), and heavy hearts about the future of our local hospital and the NHS in general.

Defending the Whittington

I spoke with Robert Aitken, Whittington board member, at our Camden Green Party stall in Highgate last Saturday.

He told me that they were closing the 175 beds because of clinical evidence that being in hospital is bad for people. It confuses elderly people and it results in muscle loss generally. He said people should be cared for by friends and neighbours, or, failing that, the NHS would take care of them in their homes. Ah yes, care in the community...ring any (alarm) bells?

This week, a report showed that the Whittington is doing well in 10 out of 11 areas. The one area it is failing in is putting patients onto the appropriate wards because - guess what - they don't have enough beds. And so I'm not sure how closing another 175 beds is going to improve that, particularly as London's population is projected to hit 9m in 2018.

I put this to Robert. He said they had factored that in. I'm not sure how. He also said that "if we need more beds we will just have to find them." Forgive me if I don't believe that. People will be turned away and lives will be lost.

As for selling off the dilapidated, disused buildings, I am not completely opposed to this, unlike the Defend the Whittington campaigners. My only concern with that is that the hospital will become much smaller and, at some point, they will say it is 'no longer viable'. Robert denied that this will happen, and that "it is not in our [the board's] interest to close it down!" but, if we look at Haringey - 6 hospitals at the beginning of the '80s, now down to one, with only 3 wards, one of which is about to close - I don't see why we should believe that.

Furthermore, as I pointed out to Robert, the board has completely lost the trust of the community, having tried to sneak these plans through without consultation. "We shot ourselves in the foot there..." was his response to that. Indeed.

Horse Deaths: A Racing Certainty

There is an increasing focus on the cruelty of the Grand National, which for decades has continued to claim the lives of horses despite several adaptations of the formidable obstacles on the Aintree course. Today, in the Foxhunter’s chase, a race for amateur jockeys, a horse collapsed and died of a heart attack, a fact that was reported by the BBC despite this not being the ‘big race’ of the meeting.

That there is more of a public outcry when these deaths occur is welcome, but it doesn’t reflect the fact that horses die throughout the year at UK race tracks. Wetherby, for example, has a high mortality rate, but where are the reports of the horses that die there, or calls for the fences at that track to be modified?

I know quite a lot about horse racing, having been a regular attendee at meetings throughout my teenage years and an occasional ‘punter’ over the last decade. There is no doubt that it is an exciting sport, a daring spectacle and can provide an enjoyable day out. That enjoyment, however, is too often overshadowed by deaths and injuries. It is a rare horse racing fan who doesn’t care when a horse is killed. The atmosphere at a meeting when the infamous screens go up around a horse is grim, and the rest of the day will be tarnished for many.

The Green Party has a very strong policy on animal racing, arguing for a ban of the whip and closure of all tracks with poor safety records. Actually, I wouldn’t completely support that, though I would support a ban of use of the whip in all situations other than when completely necessary (i.e. when using it to control an out of control and therefore dangerous horse). In terms of closing down tracks, I think that tracks should be modified before we consider shutting them down. Horse racing does after all provide much-needed jobs and livelihoods, in terms of both those who work at the courses and those who breed, train and ride the horses.

I’d also like to see something added to our policy about cruel practises involved in the breeding of thoroughbreds, as well as what happens to animals when they retire.

Having walked the National course at Aintree and having examined the fences, I was concerned about the infamous Beecher’s Brook, which features a big drop on the landing side. This, as aforesaid,  has been modified but the way that horses ‘buckle’ on landing is testimony to the fact that it remains a cruel obstacle.

I hope the public remain engaged with the issue of the cruel aspects of horse racing, and all National Hunt race courses – not just Aintree - continue to feel the pressure to adapt their fences, meaning that horse racing deaths become rarer and the sport moves away from its present tarnished state.

Whittington public meeting: no room to swing a cat

Following the news that Whittington Hospital bosses had secretly agreed – as in, with zero consultation – to sell off part of the hospital, almost halving the number of beds and capping the births at 4000 per annum, a packed public meeting took place last night, with as many as 700 attendees. Like many people, I was in one of the several ‘overflow’ rooms, where audio from the main hall was piped through.

We first heard from Joe Liddane, Chairman of the Whittington. Liddane claimed that “these plans are about improving, not downgrading, services,” and that “many conditions are treated better in a clinic or a home setting rather than a hospital.”

On the issue of whether the plans had been kept secret, Liddane claimed that this allegation ‘pained’ him. This provoked much incredulous laughter from the audience. When asked by an audience member why he hadn’t made the plans public, he claimed that he would have told people if they had asked. Again, laughter. This guy has a great future as a stand-up. However, we don’t need him in charge of our hospital, especially on a £170k salary.

A Camden Unison member spoke from the audience, countering that the sell-off was just part of ‘farming things out’ to the private sector, and if they really were going to be providing services in the community, they needed to set that up first before selling off part of the hospital. This comment received much applause.

I asked a question (via a piece of paper since I wasn’t in the main hall!) about the capping of births at 4000. Why, if they planned to spend £15 million (later revised to £10 million later in the evening, interestingly) of the sell-off profits on improving maternity services, were they going to cap births at 4000? And where, I asked, did they propose the other babies should be born?

We were given assurances that women would not be ‘turned away’. That’s good. I had visions of women having to labour in the car park.

One of the most curious comments of the evening came from local GP Greg Battle, who is in favour of the sell-off. He commented that hospitals are not seen as ‘safe places’ by many people, and there is a need to get people out of them and home as soon as possible. Wow. This coming from a GP. But surely, then, the answer is to improve hospitals, not sell them off?

Indeed, safety was a key issue for many. The Whittington has the lowest mortality rate of any hospital in the country, we learned last night. Yet closing half the beds, when at points, such as last winter, 95% of the beds were in use, could, in the words of one former Whittington staff member, mean that “there’s going to be another mid-Staffordshire in Archway if we’re not careful.”

We heard from Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn,  David Lammy, Emily Thornberry and Frank Dobson, all of whom made good and passionate points, but sadly they were all seemingly suffering from amnesia. They seemed to have forgotten that the dismantling of the NHS continued apace under the last Labour government, with targets meaning that clinicians lost sight of patients as individuals, as humans, and instead became fixated on statistics.

As Candy Udwin, of Camden Keep Our NHS Public commented, “Under Labour, we saw the drip, drip, drip of privatisation. Under the Condems, we are now seeing a full frontal attack on the NHS.”

One of the most amusing moments of the evening was when a poor bumbling chap stood up and declared he was there to represent Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem MP (and cabinet minister). Instant booing, obviously. (I didn’t boo, though I may have smiled wryly). People shouted “where is she? Why isn’t she here?” The poor fellow didn’t have much luck, and made the colossal mistake of saying “we’re all in this together.” Cue hilarious, if somewhat bitter, laughter.

I made a comment – again, via paper – that Haringey, which used to have six hospitals, now only has one: St Ann’s, and that this hospital only has three mental health wards left. In September, patients and staff of Downhills ward were told that the ward was closing in five hours, leaving vulnerable people scared and confused. Most of the land at St Ann’s is going to be used to build housing, leaving only a small area as a hospital. I commented that people who are suffering from mental health problems are being left without any assistance as a result. We mustn’t let what has happened to St Ann’s happen to the Whittington.

The meeting was lively and heated, and as well as planning for a demo on March 16^th to save the Whittington, it was concluded that strikes may well be in order and that we should begin planning for a London-wide (or possibly national) demo in mid-May. Nine hospitals across London are currently at risk of losing at least their A&E, so it makes sense that we work together to defeat these plans.

As Jeremy Corbyn MP pointed out, London’s population is rising and rising. We need to plan ahead. Selling off and closing down hospitals is short-sighted, and “we are in danger of throwing away a very, very valuable public service.”

See you at the demo on March 16^th!

More than Marriage

Well, hurrah! Gay marriage is finally made possible in England, and many of us wonder what the fuss was about. What’s so controversial about letting two people who love each other commit to a life together? Nothing, that’s what.

The whole debate over gay marriage has been very useful in highlighting just how many dinosaurs still reside on the Tory benches. I mean, how stupid are these MPs, who not only hold such bigoted views but will admit to it, with the nation watching?

Sadly, these bigots are not only in the House of Commons, but they’re out in the real world, causing misery for LGBT people every day. I’m thinking particularly of the homophobic bullying that goes on in schools, and the suicides of young people such as Jadin Bell, the Oregan teenager who died this week. Bell had been taunted about his sexuality and had hanged himself as a result. This week he died in hospital, having been on life support.

It may seem like a leap from talking about gay hate crime and suicide to talking about gay marriage, but actually it’s not. Gay marriage is an important way that we, as a society, can proudly state that we believe in equality, and that we have no space for bigotry, hatred and victimisation.  

Paedophilia: time for an honest debate

With the on-going furore surrounding the BBC’s handling of the Jimmy Saville(et al) scandal, I had hoped that the focus would by now be firmly on the wider issue of child sexual abuse and what we, as a society, should do about the problem. I’m not about to defend the BBC, and there’s no doubt they have made some serious errors, which should lead to an examination of how the ‘chain of command’ works, as well as other organisational issues.

However, over the past few days I have been wondering how much of the media’s fixation with a BBC ‘in crisis’ isn’t rather a distraction from the main issue. That is children in crisis, right now, as well as the crises faced by adult survivors and by abusers themselves. Perhaps the fact that these are difficult issues to discuss, and perhaps because they are almost impossible problems to find solutions for, we’d rather fixate on whether George Entwhistle was asleep at the wheel when in charge of the BBC.

According to the Survivors’ Network, 1 in 4 children are sexually abused. The NSPCC puts the number at 1 in 5. It has also been reported that up to 90% of sexual abuse isn’t reported, so goodness knows which figure – including that one – is accurate. What we can be sure of is that it happens. It happens behind closed doors in what look from the outside like happy, ‘normal’ families. The notion of the scary man in the woods abusing children or the perverted paedophile loner isn’t completely erroneous – those men do exist – but children are most likely to be abused by someone they know, and possibly trust and love. One can imagine how damaging that must be.

Indeed, statistics show that a high proportion of female prisoners have been sexually abused as children. Runaways are often escaping from such abuse. Some figures have shown that those involved in the sex industry are more likely to have experienced sexual abuse than those in other industries (though actually how many other industries would conduct such a survey? Where’s the stat about how many cleaners, for example, were sexually abused? So I would query that stat).

There are so many questions we should be asking. How can we better protect children who are being sexually abused right now? How can we ensure that when a child comes forward, they are listened to, believed and protected from any further abuse? What about abuse within institutions such as children’s homes? How can such places be better regulated? How can we help survivors of sexual abuse get on with their lives without being permanently scarred by their experiences? How can we prevent those men – and women, let’s not forget – who are tempted to sexually abuse children from offending in the first place?

Can a paedophile, or someone with paedophillic tendencies, be ‘cured’? The Lucy Faithful Foundation, who work with such people, say it is less about a ‘cure’ and more about people understanding the impact of their actions and learning not to act on them.

I have been talking about writing a Green Party policy on this important issue for a couple of years, and have had talks with the Lucy Faithful Foundation. Sexual abuse is a difficult, harrowing topic, but it’s a subject we ignore at our peril. Whilst the media evades the real issues and the other political parties brush the issue under the carpet, I think the Green Party should have something brave, useful and important to say.

'Be a Green Councillor'

Today saw 36 Green Party members descend on Camden Town Hall for an inspiring day entitled ‘Be a Green Councillor.’ With the local elections in London now being under two years away, it was time to galvanise local parties across the capital into selecting candidates and working target wards.

Cllr Rob White from Reading kicked things off, talking about how he became involved with the Green Party after protesting against the Iraq War, and hearing Caroline Lucas speak. He spoke about what a positive experience being a ward councillor has been for him. Focusing on local issues can be, Rob explained, very rewarding. “You’re not going to change the world overnight from Reading!” he quipped, explaining that he prioritises casework relevant to the ward rather than bigger council issues.

The Reading Greens sound like an active bunch, door-knocking every week and campaigning on and debating  local issues, such as the lack of school places. Street letters are used a great deal to communicate with residents, and this generally brings back a greater response than ward newsletters.

Cllr Darren Johnson, who is also of course a Green London Assembly Member, explained how as Lewisham’s lone Green Councillor, he deals with two sorts of casework. The first is the individual issues, such as a broken street light. This is something to be processed quickly. The second sort of casework is on issues which affect hundreds or thousands of residents, and which become the focus of campaigns. Darren emphasised the importance of communication, including using social media, in order to make sure residents know how hard Greens are working for them. It is all too easy for the opposition to take credit for Green ideas; this was a sentiment that resonated with all the Green Councillors present!

Cllr Maya de Souza, Camden’s Green Councillor, explained the responsibilities of the local authority, and the powers of a councillor. Maya explained that councils in London are ‘unitary’ councils, and that four of them - Hackney, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Newham – now have elected mayors. She also spoke about her experiences on the various committees within the council, as well as the importance of understanding the finances of the local authority.

Cllr Claire Stephenson, leader of the Green group on Norwich City Council, spoke next, and her first point was that as a councillor it is easy to lose track of what one has achieved, and all too easy to focus on what one has failed to deliver. Even in opposition, Claire noted, there are lots of things Greens have achieved. She pointed to the infamous achievements of Kirklees Greens with their renewable energy programme and free mass insulation project. She also told us that Green Councillors on Norwich County Council have just set up an ESCO (Energy Services Company), which has great promise.

Norwich Greens have had some of their biggest victories by getting amendments made to the council budget. For example, last year they secured £250,000 to fund solar energy generation, which saw solar panels being put on the roof of Norwich City Hall.

We also heard from Katie Dawson and Ute Michel, who up until 2010 were Green councillors in Islington and Lewisham respectively. Katie said that when she was elected in 2006 it felt like a ‘fluke’, and that her youngest child was just four and a half months old. However, never one to be fazed, she simple reasoned “this baby is very portable” and got on with the job.

She recalled the van from Islington Council bringing a big box of papers for her to read every day, and wondering what to do about it. In the end she realised that no councillor reads all of the papers, and it was possible to pick out the salient points on the bus ride to the council meeting!

Katie’s greatest achievement was arguing for 20mph speed limits on residential roads. When she put forward the idea, the opposition councillors “roared with laughter.” She joked that the other parties viewed her as a “stupid hippy with a baby”. However, we all know now that the idea of 20mph speed limits was agreed for Islington and the idea has spread around the country. One Green councillor – with a baby in tow – making one big difference.

Ute Michel also spoke fondly of her days as a Green councillor in Lewisham. “I didn’t have a clue what I was letting myself in for when I stood as a candidate,” she said. “But it was one of the best things I have ever done in my life.” She recalled the night when it was announced that the Greens’ budget amendment, which means an increase in the adult social care budget, had been accepted. Ute recalled walking out of the town hall “as though I was walking on air”, so delighted was she that Greens had managed to have such a positive impact on so many residents’ lives.

Attendees had lots of questions to ask the panellists, and much advice was proffered about how to survive as a Green Councillor, especially as a lone Green on a council. It was advised that councillors do not try to ‘do’ too much in the first 6 months to a year; listening, learning and making good working relationships with council officers was important. It is important, as a councillor, to stay focused, say no to things, and to do what you enjoy. It was noted that local parties really need to put the infrastructure in place in order to support their Green elected representatives. This might involve reading and summarising reports, taking on campaigning on behalf of the councillor, or simply taking the councillor out for a drink after a council meeting! Moral support, it was noted, should never be underestimated.

In short, ‘Be a Green Councillor’ was a positive, inspiring day, where many attendees left fuelled with the desire to get elected in 2014. We discussed briefly our next steps in terms of training, which will include Target to Win training, canvassing workshops and attending the Association of Green Councillors (AGC) conference.

I’ll leave you with a pertinent quotation from Katie Dawson. . “You can always come up with hundreds of reasons not to stand. But you can’t learn passion for politics. If you have that, go for it.”

Why I'm Voting for Natalie Bennett as Green Party Leader

I’m going to be voting for Natalie Bennett as new leader of the Green Party, and here’s why.

Natalie has championed women within the party, encouraging them to stand for roles both within the party and as candidates in elections. She has also founded Green Party Women, a subgroup that works to make links between the party and women's groups and organisations nationally and internationally, to promote the women-friendly policies and approach of the party, and to work generally to promote women's rights. She has been instrumental in writing many of our women-centric policies, such as those on parental leave, women asylum seekers and abortion rights.

As Chair of the group she has travelled around the country, speaking with women from local parties and regions, inspiring women to take more active roles in their local parties. How do I know she has done this? Because, as Secretary of the group, I was often there too! Sheffield, Huddersfield, Brighton, Lewisham, Manchester, Lancaster, Norwich, Stroud, Cambridge - very inspiring days! Made all the more so by Natalie’s presence.

She’s also Chair of Camden Green Party, probably one of the most dynamic local party going. In the recent London Mayoral and London elections, Camden went all out to boost the Green vote, even opening a campaign shop for several months. The Green Party of course became the third party in London on May 3^rd, and it was in no small part due to Natalie’s work, because as well as being Camden’s dynamic Chair she was also a fantastically eloquent London Assembly candidate. I witnessed her excellent performance at the Progressive Women Hustings at the House of Commons, in the run up to the elections, and, not for the first time, I was proud to be a Green Party member.

Indeed, public speaking is one of Natalie’s key skills. I will never forget how she left the other candidates standing at a hustings for the 2010 General Election, when she was the Green Party candidate for Holborn and St Pancras. Even veteran MP Frank Dobson looked somewhat amateur compared to Natalie’s passionate yet calm performance. I felt the mood of the room move in her favour, which was played out by the long line of people who lined up to speak to her afterwards – I had to get in the queue! People who perhaps hadn’t even thought about the Green Party were buzzing about ideas such as a Citizen’s Income and a London Living Wage, and other ideas which are radically, uniquely Green. Not every candidate can inspire people thus. Natalie can.

I could go on and on,  but there are many more people who are already singing Natalie’s praises, and rightly so! A dynamic exponent of our policies, an inspiring presence, an incredibly eloquent speaker, and also the hardest working person I’ve ever known. In short, a naturally brilliant leader.

Please vote for Natalie Bennett for Green Party leader!

The Shocking State of Mental Health Services in Haringey

St Ann’s Hospital in Haringey is the one remaining NHS hospital in the borough. There used to be six, but one by one they were sold off, to become, in a couple of the cases, luxury housing. A new polyclinic has opened in Crouch End, of course, and it is a very shiny building. So all is well, apparently.

Last week I visited a friend in St Ann’s, which is a mental health hospital. For those who have not visited the hospital, it is made up of many buildings, quite higgledy-piggledy in layout, with grassy areas and mature trees. There is at least one ‘pen’ where people who have been deemed mentally ill are allowed out to ‘exercise’ – or smoke – with no chance of escaping due to the high metal fences. The ‘pen’ is currently decorated with plastic flags, and Haringey ward, the assessment ward where my friend was staying, was festooned with more plastic bunting, each piece bearing the image of the Queen’s face.

The first thing that surprised me on my first visit was that the ward is mixed gender. Haven’t the Tories promised that they would do away with those? To add to that, the female toilets were often covered in faeces, meaning women had to use the gents’ toilets. When my friend reported the toilets, a nurse shouted at her, telling her it was disgusting, and it was not her job to sort out as she had paperwork to do.

I was there for only an hour on my first visit (before being chucked out as visiting time had finished), but in that time I saw two extremely aggressive incidents. Both involved very angry men, the second one being directed at a very vulnerable woman. The poor woman cowered whilst the man shouted directly into her face, threatening her at one point with a wooden chair. The woman then tried to get out of the room, clearly in distress, but was restrained by staff.

All the time I was there the television was blaring out in the corner. My friend also reports that at one point very loud music which she described as ‘trippy and disturbing’ was pumped out on speakers into the communal lounge at the request of one patient.

The friend who I was visiting has had mental health problems, on and off, for some years, and has of course become an expert in her own condition. On arriving at the hospital she was kept waiting on a chair in a waiting area all night long, whilst staff repeatedly told her that the doctor was coming soon. Doctors didn’t appear until the morning. Why? THERE ARE NO DOCTORS ON DUTY OVERNIGHT AT THE HOSPITAL. This is because of the cuts, and didn’t use to be the case. My friend was told she could go home and ‘take an anti-histamene’ to help her sleep. Here was someone in acute mental distress, worried about harming herself, and with a track-record of doing just that, and she was given this little care. But things were about to get worse.

She asked not to be given tranquillisers, as she has abused them in the past; “they are like Smarties to me” was how she put it. However, staff insisted that she take them. Finally she saw a doctor. A few days later she saw a psychiatrist who told her that she had a personality disorder, the unit didn’t help people like her, and that she needed to make changes herself. In short, her problems were all her own fault.

Naturally, she hit the roof and ended up in an isolation cell. I saw these terrifying-looking cells, with their reinforced steel doors and crash mat. That’s what we do with people in this country, in this age. We lock them in cells and leave them to stew when they are at their lowest. We tell them they are the cause of their problems. We drug them in order to give mental health staff an easier life.

If cancer patients were treated like this there would be a national scandal, and rightly so. But because mental illness is such a taboo subject, mental health patients get treated worse than animals, and who is going to expose this, protest, and demand better?

My friend witnessed another young woman, who was believed to be under section, being told that they had made a mistake, she wasn’t actually sectioned, and if she ‘behaved’ she would be free to go. To go and do what, exactly? Harm herself, live in mental torment? Probably.

It struck me that here are people who are at the end of their tether, who have finally ended up in what should be the right place, and where they should be able to get the help that they need. Instead, they are being turned away or blamed for their own problems. My friend’s Mum visited, and one of the staff told her that although her daughter appeared to be upset, earlier she had been ‘fine’, sitting quietly in the lounge.

So unless you’re making a ‘scene’ you’re not suffering, apparently, and are at risk of being sent home. You’d think that would be preferable to staying in a mental hospital, but when you’re in need of psychiatric help and in acute distress, not in control of your actions, it may well be that you’d prefer to be in hospital. The result is that patients may feel the need to ‘act out’ their feelings more in order to ‘prove’ their mental distress. This is bad news for patients and staff alike.

The other thing that struck me was how little individual care the patients received. My friend has suffered from eating disorders in the past and has been bravely battling her demons for years. I’d say that she is now probably the healthiest person I know, though her battle to defeat her disorder will be a continuing fight. Why then weigh her, despite her protestations? She is clearly neither under- or overweight, so why possibly trigger a bad reaction from her, particularly when she is at her most vulnerable?

To add to this, the hospital hasn’t been providing her with suitable food (she’s a vegan), despite the fact that they do provide kosher, halal and even afro-Caribbean meal options. This is disrespectful and could have easily triggered another ‘starvation project’. Friends have had to bring in suitable food because the NHS just couldn’t come up with the goods. My friend also had difficulty keeping warm because, as well as the lack of food (portions were tiny even for those whose dietary requirements were catered for), patients only had one blanket each, and it is cold on the ward.

I wonder what will become of St Ann’s Hospital, with its dilapidated and in some cases empty buildings? Another luxury housing development is my guess, at some point in the next 10 to 15 years.* And what of the people in mental distress, who are at the end of the line and in desperate need of help? If they’re lucky they will access private psychiatric care. Those without the means to afford that will struggle on, doing untold harm to themselves and those around them. Spare a thought for the children of the severely mentally ill, for example; Philip Larkin’s line ‘man passes on misery to man, it deepens like a coastal shelf’ springs sadly to mind.

The least fortunate will end their lives when things simply become too unbearable, just like the 19 year old man who jumped from ‘Suicide Bridge’ attempted to do last week. For over one hundred years it is where people have headed when they have wanted to end the misery. Usually they will be known to mental health services.

Our campaign to get better anti-suicide measures put in place at the bridge continues: please sign the petition: 

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/anti-suicide-measures-at-the-hornsey-lane-bridge-n6.html

I consulted my friend before posting this article. She felt that although painful for her to read, she wanted it to be posted.

*Since I wrote this piece, a ‘consultation’ has arrived on my doormat regarding the future of St Ann’s. The plan is to make most of it into housing, some of it – it doesn’t say how much – will be ‘affordable’. Wow, I must be psychic. How about improving the existing mental health services rather than drastically reducing them?

How to fuck things up good and proper: a coaltion government recipe

Take one already dysfunctional family (Dad is on drugs, abusive, violent; Mum is vulnerable; two kids aged 5 and 2, are witnessing everything). Leave to stew for several years. Cut the opening hours of the local children’s centre. Cut the benefits the family are receiving. Cut the funding for the women’s refuges and the domestic abuse charities. Separate the Mum and Dad after the Dad gives Mum a final thorough beating. Introduce the local authority. Remove the kids from the now homeless Mum. Mum doesn’t qualify for temporary accommodation. She is reduced to living on friends’ floors. Kids are now ‘in care’, sorry, ‘being looked after’. But remember: “You know the best welfare system of all, it's called the family” (David Cameron) And don’t forget: “I live in a nice house like most people in London.” (Lynne Featherstone Lib Dem MP for Hornsey and Wood Green and government minister). The above is a true story I heard today about a family in Haringey. Sadly they will be just one case amongst thousands across the country. Evidence, if it were needed, that the cuts are hitting women and the most vulnerable the hardest, and how much long term damage this government is doing.

Disgraceful harassment of women seeking abortions is supported by church

Yesterday I emailed the Jubilee Community Church in Worthing as part of an action organised by Abortion Rights. I asked them to withdraw the support they currently give to the Abort67 campaign group, which protests regularly outside the BPAS Wistons Centre in Brighton. The group have been taken to court for harassing women who were going for abortions in Brighton.

Today I received the following email from the church leader:

Dear Sarah

Firstly, many thanks for writing to me and expressing your opinion. As you are aware the issue of abortion is a very emotive issue, with lots of labels used, exaggerated stories and caricatures evoked which can be untrue and create even more misunderstanding, which I feel is unhelpful.

I’m not sure if you were expecting a reply from me, but as you have been kind enough to express your opinion directly to me, rather than simply listening to stories and feeling you can do nothing about it, I would like to take the chance to reply to you and explain why the church leadership at Jubilee support Abort67 in their aims and methods.

The fight for justice has a long tradition in the church, based on clear teaching from the bible that we should care for the poor, the overlooked and the most vulnerable in our society. It has been Christians shaped by these values that have changed countless wrongs in history, from the slave trade to civil rights. We look back with pride on them now, although at the time they were hated, mocked and misrepresented.

Here at Jubilee the leaders are convinced that justice is an issue for our time. We work among the poorest people in our town, feeding and caring for hundreds of people every year. Across the world, we work into the poorest areas, relieving suffering, bringing education and finance, and empowering them to find work and dignity.
Abort67 is not a church run project, it’s much bigger than that, encompassing people from different faith backgrounds and those with no formal faith. However, you are correct in your assumption that we as church leaders support what they are doing. There is no harassment, calling people murderers, or any such thing. What they do is show people the reality of what abortion does, and who it affects the most.
It seems to us that there are a lot of people looking to care for the vulnerable ladies who are pregnant, which of course we would whole heartedly agree with and actively look to support. However, there is no-one who is championing the cause of the unborn child. They are the most vulnerable people in our society, wholly dependant on those outside the womb, with no voice of their own to argue their case. Abort67 is a group of normal, caring people, some of whom have had abortions themselves, who believe the unborn child should have a voice. These children may not be as developed as you or I (and let’s face it, there are many in this world who are not as developed) but they are still human beings and as such deserve a right to live. Abort67 are giving the unborn a voice and not allowing the hundreds of thousands of deaths of these innocent children to pass by unnoticed.

I am aware that you will have heard the horror stories, and you no doubt believe that I am downplaying the aggressive nature of displays done by Abort67. Before we go our separate ways and you write us off as extreme fanatics, allow me to ask you one simple question. If all that you have heard about Abort67 is true, including all their ‘terrible’ behaviour outside of the abortion clinic, why do you think that so many women who have seen their photos have chosen to keep their babies? Intimidated and harassed into their decision? Unlikely, don’t you think? Perhaps they have seen something that they have never seen before, despite all the counselling. Something that shows them that their baby is a real human being, one that is worth saving.
Life is amazing. For all our sakes, let’s not pretend it doesn’t matter.
With best regards to you,
Colin

Colin Nichols
Church leader

I replied thus:

Dear Colin,

Thanks for your email. I sit here emailing you with my baby son playing on his mat and my 5 year old playing in the next room.

8 years ago I had an abortion and it was the right thing to do. There is such a big difference between being pregnant when you don't want to be and being pregnant when you do want to be. As a man you will never know this, so I feel I need to tell you that.

You ask why women changed their minds after being shown photos of abortions. It is because they have been guilt-tripped into believing abortion is a bad idea. Let's be frank, abortion isn't pretty, but unplanned pregnancies happen because sex is enjoyable. The alternatives to abortion for women who don't want to go through with a pregnancy - and pregnancy is HARD, believe me! - are backstreet, dangerous abortions or having a baby they may not look after.

Access to safe abortion is a right every woman should have. I do not regret my abortion though it was not a pleasant experience, and had there been protesters outside the clinic my day would have been so much tougher.

Yours,

Sarah Cope

Reading between the lines

A few weeks ago I attended a ‘curriculum meeting’ at my daughter’s school, to find out what she will be doing during her year in Reception. One of the things we learned about was the ‘Phonics’ system of learning to read. This, as the name suggests, is all about concentrating on sounds, and from the way the teachers described it, I thought it was a sensible approach, as well as a fun way for kids to learn.

However, at a conference last week, ‘Reading Stories: Does it Make Sense?’, the approach was questioned. Michael Rosen, the former children’s laureate, pointed out that nowhere in an Ofsted report is reading, or a school’s possession of books, mentioned.

Furthermore, it has to be highlighted that Ruth Miskin, government advisor on education, and the keenest promoter of the phonics system around, is herself the author of a very popular phonics scheme.

I got the impression from the parents’ curriculum meeting, which only a handful of parents attended (it was held during working hours so obviously would’ve been impossible for working parents to attend),that with class sizes of almost 30, there is only so much reading the teachers can do with the kids individually. The teachers invited us parents to come in and sit with the children in the reading corner and help out when we can.

All of this points to the fact that switched-on parents are going to give their kids a head start, and that children from less privileged backgrounds will, from the outset, lag behind. The incredible levels of inequality are brought home by the fact that children from homes with 500 books or more receive, on average, three times as much ‘teaching’ at home. Another telling statistic: children from language-rich backgrounds have heard 32 million more words by the age of five than those from deprived backgrounds.

It is well known that by the age of eighteen months the kids from a nurturing home have leapt ahead of the children from deprived backgrounds, so by the time we get them into school the gap has already opened up, the danger being that it will never close, only widen. I’d like to see parenting classes as standard, rather than the education system trying to bridge the gap almost five years too late, with over-stretched teachers taking on a parenting role. I’d also recommend getting older people into our classrooms to give individual reading assistance. This would give possibly isolated seniors who want to keep their minds active a chance to use their knowledge and help instil the youngest members of society with a life-long love of books and learning.

I’d also like to see the government re-commit to Book Start, the scheme run in conjunction with Booktrust. This is a scheme which gives all babies and toddlers free books, regardless of their background. The coalition government have halved the funding they give to the scheme, though at present it is limping onwards. It would be a tragedy if this scheme fell by the wayside altogether, because, coupled with library closures – which writer Alan Bennett deemed ‘child abuse’, and rightly so – the end of this scheme would mean pre-schoolers from book-free households wouldn't get near a book until they go to school.

Just one of the delightful ways, then, that our present government are condemning more children to a life of underachievement and frustration, whilst also ensuring that social divisions and gaping inequality worsens by the year.

Apple Day 2011: a bumper crop

Another year, another crop of apples...and that can only mean one thing in Stroud Green: Apple Day! This annual fixture has fast become one of my highlights of the year, and Transition Crouch End should be congratulated - alongside the other groups who organise the event - for putting on a great range of stalls each year.

Chris has won the apple peeling competition for the last two years, and so the pressure was on for a hat trick. This year he managed 1 metre, 89 cm. "Disappointing," he mused, "though still enough for me to remain the champion." Indeed, he was crowned champ once again. Next year we really must get the people from the Guinness Book of Records along...

There was apple pressing (the juice was incredible), apple tasting (an apple called Opal was my favourite by far), plus lots of craft activities for the children.

In short, a glorious afternoon, and a great opportunity to catch up with some of my favourite Stroud Greenites. And many thanks to Haringey Green Party member Pamela Harling, who made me laugh when, standing behind a table of around 100 British apple varieties, she declared, "I don't even LIKE apples!" Oh the irony.

A mine of midwifery misinformation...

On a day when it has been reported that standards of care in many hospitals are woefully inadequate, I had a midwife appointment at University College Hospital. I have so far thankfully found little to complain about in terms of the standard of care at the hospital, a far cry from my experiences at the Royal Free back in 2007. However, the midwife I saw today was an exception to the rule.

I heard staff talking about how short-staffed they were today due to midwives having called in sick, and saw one midwife trying to deal with a long line of patients. When the time came for me to see the midwife (and by this point it was twenty minutes or so after the scheduled appointment time) she apologised for the delay.

I was feeling both anxious and somewhat unwell, and was interested to see what my blood pressure would be today. Surprise, surprise, it was low (70/44). The following exchange then ensued:

Me: It’s quite low, isn’t it?

Midwife: That’s good.

Me: Well…yes, I know it’s safer that it’s low rather than high-

Midwife: That’s right.

Me: - but actually it’s not all that good feeling faint a lot of the time…

Midwife: You’re very anxious, aren’t you?(Laughs)

Me: Yes, I am. I’ve been seeing the psychiatrist here because of the traumatic time I had last time I gave birth. I am feeling very anxious at the moment...not sleeping...

Midwife: Are you taking anything for it?

Me: No…I haven’t been offered anything.

Midwife: Then you must have a very supportive partner. Did you get post-natal depression last time?

Me: No.

Midwife: Well then. And was your baby alright?

Me: She had some trouble breathing…she had a suspected GBS infection and was taken to the Special Care Baby Unit…

Midwife: No. I mean now. Is she okay now?

Me: Yes, oh yes.

Midwife: So you’re booked for a C-section on 31st October. Is your partner planning to stay?

Me: Stay? When?

Midwife: Overnight.

Me: Can you do that?

Midwife: Yes, in a side room with you and the baby.

Me: But I was told I can’t have a side room because I’m having a Caesarean and they have to keep an eye on me…

Midwife: For the first 24 hours, but after that you can.

Me: Oh! I will book one then.

Midwife: You can’t book them.

Me: There’s a sign out there (pointing to the waiting room) about how to book one, though…

Midwife: How would you book one? Think about it!

Me: So why does it say you can on the sign?

Midwife: Well you can, but only once you’re on the post-natal ward. And if you book you have to pay for it.

Me: I am willing to pay for it!

Midwife: I know you are but you can’t book in advance.

WHAAAAT? You get the picture. You know that feeling you get when you’re talking to someone who doesn't know what they’re on about, and so just bullshit you and change the story with every statement they make? Well, that was one of those situations – not at all reassuring in a clinical setting, especially when you’re already feeling anxious!

After palpating my abdomen and declaring the baby’s head is down, I retorted “Are you sure?” I went on to explain that I was told this last time, but after 48 hours in labour, a scanner was wheeled in and the suspicion I had held for weeks was confirmed: the baby was breeched and suddenly it was all systems go for an emergency c-section. The midwife today was most put-out that I doubted her word and uttered the classic “I have been a midwife for a long time, I do know what I’m talking about!”

In short, I left today’s appointment feeling more insecure about my care and how I’ll be treated once I am admitted on 31st October. Yes, the midwife was under pressure due to the short-staffing, but her adversarial, defensive and patronising manner made the exchange unpleasant for the pair of us.

Oh, and the nonsense about the side room? I telephoned the hospital once I got home, and once I had navigated the dodgy 'phone system (this involved being cut off twice...), I was told that I wouldn’t be allowed one if I’d had a c-section, just as I had been told before. I explained that a midwife told me that wasn’t the case after the first 24 hours, and so I was then allowed to book a room. Who knows who has it right and what will happen? As for partners being allowed to stay overnight, it was the first the woman I spoke to on the ‘phone had heard of it.

One last confused note: the midwife bluntly told me that I was 'lucky' to be granted a c-section as I live ‘out of the area’, and it is now policy to only let women have c-sections at their ‘local’ hospitals (in my case that would be the Whittington). If this is correct (and remember, it came from that mine of midwifery misinformation!) then that’s appalling; so much for patient choice.

Advice to heed...and advice to ignore!

It’s incredible how some advice to pregnant women and new mothers changes with the wind whilst some remains constant for decades. I have here a copy of ‘Babylove: A Practical Guide to a Loving Pregnancy and Parenthood’ by Judy Wade and Val Hudson, published in 1977. (I was born in 1978, so I’ll let you guess whose shelf I plucked this from!).

Some of the advice and the observations remain extremely up to date. For example, on breastfeeding in public, Wade and Hudson write:

‘If anyone sees you breast feeding and objects it’s their attitude that’s wrong, not yours. It’s a pity that the sight of a naked breast in some newspapers and magazines is acceptably naughty but a breast feeding mother is obscene. We think the real obscenity is in the minds of the onlooker who turns a beautiful, natural act into something shameful.’ (p.168)

Bravo! How little times have changed, with women still having to justify and defend their right to breastfeed in public.

The book is focused upon the need for a couple (taken here to be a heterosexual couple, of course!) to keep their ‘romance’ (yuck!) alive throughout pregnancy and afterwards. Here Wade and Hudson had me literally weeping with laughter (thanks, Wade and Hudson!). For example, in the section entitled, ‘Tips for a Sexier Pregnancy’ (which comes with line drawings of sexual positions to try during pregnancy, including the curiously-titled ‘Ride-a-Cock-Horse’ – no, really), we also read:

‘Surprise him – by whispering something very private in a very public place. By dropping a pile of cushions on the floor (preferably in front of a glowing fireplace) as an irresistible invitation. Or make his favourite fantasy come true by going to bed wearing just a black velvet ribbon around your throat like Goya’s Maya nude – or just a pair of silky black stockings.’ (p.75).

Phoaarr! A black velvet ribbon, eh? Hot to trot. (Notice there’s no mention of the bloke bothering to fulfil his partner’s ‘favourite fantasy’…). Wade and Hudson even suggest ‘sensual music’ to play during all this ribbon-wearing and cushion-dropping. ‘You could try Donna Summer’s classic arouser Love to Love you Baby’ apparently. (Anyone else getting an image here of Alison Steadman as suburban housewife Beverley in the Mike Leigh film ‘Abigail’s Party’, wearing her black velvet chocker, dancing to aforesaid track? Uncanny!).

But the best advice the book has to offer concerns childbirth itself. Women are advised to make an effort with their appearance, such as by wearing false eyelashes during labour (it helps with the pain if you look sexy). This is in a chapter entitled ‘How to be Hip in Hospital’. In this chapter there is also the staggering advice to befriend the hospital staff in order to ensure better treatment. One way of doing this is to remember that ‘many nurses and doctors come from abroad. In the first stage of labour when contractions are light you could ask a few friendly questions about their homelands…’ (p.120).

I will end with what is, in my opinion, the most incredible paragraph in the whole bizarre book:

‘A nutty beauty we know decided that the most vital part of producing a baby was getting some superb needlework in her vagina when the doctor stitched her episiotomy after birth. Unfortunately it was 3am when her baby arrived and a woman doctor had to be called from a sound sleep to sew her up. Although our friend wasn’t feeling very chatty she switched on all the high-powered charm she could muster. The result was after a long, careful sewing job the doctor looked up and said: “I’m really proud of my work. I have repaired you so beautifully your husband will come back and thank me in a few week’s time.’ (p.120).

Wow. There are SO many things wrong with the above story that it’s difficult to know where to start! I’ll leave it to you to puzzle over instead.

Now excuse me whilst I go buy some false eyelashes and book myself into a charm school, all whilst trying not to strangulate myself with a black velvet ribbon…

Pass the Ear Plugs...

Now at the ‘unmistakably pregnant’ stage of pregnancy (though a woman did ask me if I had irritable bowel syndrome a couple of weeks ago…), my shape is causing near-constant comment from both acquaintances and strangers alike. As someone who generally likes to go about my everyday business without entering into conversations with strangers about my intimate medical history, this is rather irksome.

I know people are just being friendly (in the main), but the range of comments I have been on the receiving end of in the last couple of weeks has sometimes been both intrusive and upsetting, leaving me to ponder whether a lot of people are somehow disturbed by pregnancy, and therefore have a tendency to make a load of unwise comments.

With this in mind I have come up with a handy list of comments to say – and comments decidedly not to say – to pregnant women. All of the comments below are things that have actually been said to me.

Do Say…

“When’s it due?”

“Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“Is it your first?”

“How are you feeling?”

In other words, keep it simple, safe and unoriginal. Yes, I am sick to death of answering these questions on an almost hourly basis from delivery men, taxi drivers, newsagents, fellow travellers on the bus (the list goes on…and on), but these are inoffensive and neutral. You’re on safe ground: stay there.

Don’t Say

“Are you OK? Your face looks a bit swollen.”

“Wow. You’re HUGE. Are you having twins?”

“If you don’t know if you’re having a boy or a girl, how do you know what colour baby clothes to wear? OMG! Nightmare!”

Oh, and if I reveal that I am having a planned caesarean, please DON’T say:

“My sister almost bled to death on the operating table when she had a caesarean.”

“If they deliver the baby before the due date, do you know the baby could die?”

“Why are you having a caesarean? You don’t HAVE to have one, you know. I had two home births. They were amazing!”

One last thing: don’t touch the bump unless we are actually friends. (In fact, this doesn’t happen too much to me, probably because of what I like to term my distinct ‘fuck off vibes’. Good).

A (colourful) update on my 'guerrilla gardening' exploits

Back in May I blogged about the fact that I'd planted a packet of sunflower seeds in an abandoned flowerbed on the corner of Baker's Lane and Archway Road, just by the North Circular. It's a litter-strewn spot and the flowerbed there was completely empty.

It took me about 5 minutes to plant the seeds, and that was the total sum of my efforts.


A local resident last week emailed me to say that the sunflowers were now blooming and looked ‘wonderful’.

When I went to visit the flowers yesterday (see picture) I couldn’t quite believe how big they have grown. Most of them are yet to bloom and so we haven’t seen the best of them yet.

The sunflowers can be seen by drivers as they enter Haringey from the North Circular, so I'd like to think that they provide a bright and cheery welcome to our borough – and all for 99p!