Michael Lilley shares this latest Mental Health news. Ed
Michael Lilley has a long history of working with people with mental health issues having worked within the mental health sector for over 30 years as a practitioner and chief executive of a national charity.
He has spent the last three years championing the need to get change within mental health services on the Island and wishes to raise the issues of adult social care and mental health and how there has to be a fresh and innovative approach in delivering public services.
Services cut to a level that is viable
Michael feels he needs to speak out in light of recent NHS resignations, cut in services, and a pending CQC report due to be published, which has strong criticisms of public mental health services.
Michael says:
“NHS and Isle of Wight County Council have cut services to a level that they are not viable and this becomes a false economy and more and more vulnerable adults will fall into crisis.
“The Public Sector has the statutory responsibility to care for them, which they have to pay for, which is often at a higher cost than sensible spending at early stages of crisis. We need to invest in local quality services run by local people which get people living independently and well.
“In the short-term we need to invest through borrowing and social impact bonds and in the long-term we will make substantive savings.”
Need to tackle issue head on
Michael has evidenced experience in the adult and social care arena locally, nationally and internationally and wants to highlight the importance for new approaches in tackling Isle of Wight’s social care issues.
Michael says:
“The pending and previous CQC reports on the IW NHS Trust highlight issues with public mental health services on the Island and we need to tackle this issue head on. I believe we have to listen to people who use services and those who care for them.
“I have championed the simple slogan of ‘Listen to the people who are in crisis and need services’ for 40 years and still it is a relative new concept.
“If a young mother has a breakdown and does not get early support, she ends up in acute psychiatric services and her children end up in care.
“The NHS and Council have to pay for this. If you support her in the community, make sure she has good housing and help her to get a job; you have enabled the whole family for two generations of potential reliance on the state and resulting unhappiness. It makes financial and social common sense.”
Think Family and Think Carers
Michael is calling for a Think Family and Think Carers approach – Research has shown 80% of those individuals who enter acute mental health services had “sad” mothers and “80%” were identifiable as young adults.
In the UK, carers (family members) provide annually £14 billion unpaid care for their loved ones. This is alongside the £19.8 billion from the State and with the Island’s now 3% adult social care precept increase on residents council tax bill, many Island carer’s are in fact paying twice or three times if they have to financially contribute.
Michael States:
“We need to think family and target preventative services to families at an early stage and this will enable families to be more resilient and able to tackle life’s normal crisis events.
“Without this unpaid contribution of £19 Billion by UK carers, the real cost would be in the UK, £34 Billion for adult social care.
“We should not ignore carers but support them as we as a society do need them, we are them, and we need to work with them equally as with those who need care.”
Image: ceratosaur under CC BY 2.0
