Lynne Featherstone

Today’s surgery was full of really difficult people. “Care in the community” often just means that the care isn’t adequate and people can’t cope in the community.

Often what is considered anti-social behaviour is then ASBO’d, which is then broken, which then means a custodial sentence when really this is just a vulnerable person with mental health challenges – not someone who the police or prison is left to deal with.

I am extremely worried about the restructuring of Haringey’s mental health services which are being launched on Monday – because I bet you my bottom dollar it will be all about getting them out of residential care back into the community. And it will be sold as better for the individual – but it won’t be. It will just mean that they can downsize the residential care, save money, and parcel of the land round St Ann’s for development. You watch!

Visit the Mental Health Trust on the St Ann’s Hospital site. Haringey has the longest inpatient stays in London but it does a very low re-admission rate compared to other authorities. So – what I take from that is that the Government needs to be very careful about its push to shove people out of in-patient facilities towards care in the community. While I am sure that being at home and not institutionalised is a laudable t aim, if the patient isn’t ready and the support networks are not adequate then we will see more and more problems on street or left for the police to deal with.

The other issue that struck me was the number (and cost) of secure beds that we pay for and that extraordinary numbers of people with mental health problems who end up in prison (also expensive) as opposed to getting preventative care prior to getting hospitalised or imprisoned. This resonates with my experience of warning after warning to the council or police that a local person is threatening neighbours etc. The authorities are always saying they cannot do anything until something happens. Eventually, the person assaults someone. Then they are put in prison and/or evicted. When they come out – they are found accommodation (if they are lucky) and the whole cycle starts all over again with new neighbours.

So – more early intervention and prevention needed. Otherwise we are just going to be creating more arrests, more problems, more misery.

I also have an appointment with the Primary Care Trust (PCT). Main issue on the agenda for me is the news (known for some time but not released to us mere mortals) that the future plans for the redevelopment of the Hornsey Central site are in jeopardy. Haringey Council has pulled the plug on their part of the proposals for the site and has, in the most ad hoc of fashions, decided not to proceed with the care home facilities. This leaves the PCT up the creek as they need the funding from that to fund the other community health services to be offered.

They have come up with a possible way of funding it. I’m not supposed to say publicly what it is yet (though can’t quite see why) – it is quite controversial and supposedly ‘commercially sensitive’. I think they need to be bolder and work with the community on this funding problem.

Local campaigners, myself and others have been at this for years and years. We campaigned against closure originally. Continued through the wilderness years. But when the PCT was set up relations improved with campaigners. Now Haringey Council has jeopardised all of this by pulling the rug out.

The PCT was planning to present the options to their board in September. I suggested to them that rather than go to the board and then to a public meeting thereafter when their possibly controversial proposals were a ‘fait accompli’ it would be much better to share with the key stakeholders the challenges they faced and the options available and then go to a public meeting to genuinely consult. The acting Chief Exec, Geoff Sandford, said he would give that suggestion serious consideration. I hope he does!

American Independence day! No relevance to my day. My first visit of the day is to St Ann’s Hospital, where the George Marsh Centre is a facility supporting sickle cell and thalassaemia sufferers.

As sickle cell affects mainly members of the Afro-Caribbean community it is a big issue here in Hornsey and Wood Green. I am there to open the ‘awareness day’ – an afternoon of talks and discussion about the condition and how to support the community and spread awareness. Some of the support staff were chatting to me before the opening and saying – ‘well Lynne – what are you going do to raise awareness?’

I thought my best use – apart from opening things and turning up to things – was to put down parliamentary questions pushing the government into more action and support, perhaps be able to have a Westminster Hall debate on the issue and so on. And I will.

Then Alexandra Park School science block opening – a grand occasion. Mike Tomlinson (he of the report that the government is ignoring) is opening the block itself – and I am opening each of the classrooms. So Mike gets to pull the red curtain back on the plaque. I get to pull bits of red paper off the sign on each classroom.

At each class one of the children reads out the reason that a particular name has been chosen. For example – Albert Einstein – and then I pull off the paper to reveal the name.

We go into each classroom where the kids and their teacher are doing scientific things with Bunsen burners. Looks absolutely fantastic fun – and such talent being nurtured. Almost revised my opinion of government policy on specialist schools…!

They we trooped over to a classroom for ‘maths in the 21sst Century’. I loved the way they taught maths. If I had had such an enthusiastic and innovative and alive maths teacher as Iraj – I might have learned more myself. So – the key to the amazing atmosphere in the maths department I think had a lot less to do with the razzamatazz of the white boards and the IT and far more to do with having a brilliant teacher – who sadly was about to leave.

Then run to Commons arriving literally as the division bell rang to vote. Phew!