With the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille's birth and
the UK state pension turning 100, there is much to commemorate this month.
But an anniversary that slipped by last month gives
little cause to celebrate - and it was only its first.
On 13 December 2007 the South West London and St George's
Mental Health NHS Trust announced the closure of the Henderson Hospital, a
residential and outreach unit that specialises in treating personality
disorder.
However, because this constituted a substantive change in
service provision a public consultation had to follow. The upshot was that the
closure was made "temporary" and the outreach work continued - albeit drastically scaled down by the trust.
A campaign team to save the hospital swung into action and enlisted among its number south London MPs Paul Burstow and Tom Brake.
But the process is being played out against a backdrop of
uncertainty. The fear is that the longer the consultation takes the easier it
will be for the health trust to make the closure permanent rather than
temporary.
One campaign member told me: "This protracted process
does us more harm than good because, among other things, we are losing staff.
It gets harder to campaign for and promote something that is fading into
memory."
Campaigners are concerned that a general election could
derail the three-month consultation - which is due to start in March - and that
a new government would not necessarily commit itself to the previous one's
plans
"Let's face it, the Henderson or services for people with
personality disorder will be low on its list of priorities," was one
campaigner's verdict.
Another pointed out: "Even if the outcome of the
consultation is that residential units are needed, there will then be a
tendering process whereby NHS or independent sector organisations can bid to
provide the service.
"Even if they were to provide a therapeutic community
similar to that previously provided, services don't build up the expertise and
peer empowerment culture overnight."
And all this time people with the very conditions in
which the Henderson specialises are not receiving the treatment they need.
Perhaps the health authorities are banking on the
campaigners to run out of steam and allow the issue to slip down the agenda.
But, having contacted some of the campaigners this week, I can assure health
chiefs that there is plenty of fire left in their bellies.
Excellent article that highlights the problems of the low priority given to this type of personality disorder provision.
It does seem a shame that the Health Services Structure in the UK is so flawed that an example of National and Worldwide excellence such as the Henderson should be closing. Clearly it is not closing for lack of research on the beneficial effects of the approach although that is advanced as one of the reasons by some.
I cannot tell you how much thsi service is needed. I did not attend the Henderson but I have attended (and currently still do) another therapeutic community and this treatment has literally saved my life.
I will be leaving my TC next month and now have a chance to lead life and at only 26 a chance to contribute to society in a way that would never have happened before.
Backing the Henderson for me is about much more than making sure that one hospital gets to keep going, it is about making sure that the therapeutic community continues to be a treatment option for people living with personality disorder. the Henderson was a leading TC in Britain and so the fact that it was closed is very significant.
Don't let the Henderson close but more than that don't let TC's die