Government announce Mental Health investment

I'm delighted by the Government's decision to invest £500m to support mental health across the UK.

Last October I wrote about the importance of good mental health including how hard living through the pandemic has been on everyone's mental health.

At a family funeral a week ago, the impact of loneliness on one of my relative's mental health was so sad to see. We talked about the struggle going out by yourself when you are feeling low and alone. Her pets have played a huge part in getting her through the last year. She's had to walk her dogs which has meant she has been able to say hello to other dog walkers so see another human being. She is so looking forward to restrictions easing - as I know we all are!

With the swift and efficient rollout of the vaccine, British Summer Time starting tonight and gardens bursting into flower, life is improving.

If you need help, here is a list of excellent organisations:

The Charlie Waller Trust

Mind

Still The Hunger

SAMH

SANE

The Samaritans

Young Minds

One Reading Community Hub Support

As a reminder, One Reading Community Hub Support has been set up for Reading Borough residents to help provide extra support where needed.

If you, or someone you know, is in need of extra support due to Covid-19 either:

Fill in the form at online coronavirus support form and someone will be in touch, or call:

Freephone 0808 189 4325 from 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Fridays and 9 am to 1 pm on Saturday and Sundays.

If you, or your business wish to volunteer, fill in the form here.

Groups can register online with Reading Neighbourhood Network

Mental Health Care Report

Concerns have been raised that public services such as NHS trusts, clinical commissioning groups and local authorities, are failing to work together to ensure there is round the clock access to crisis care.  

In addition it has been found that healthcare professionals, eg those in A&E can appear to lack compassion and warmth in how to care for and speak to people who are having a crisis including those who have harmed themselves.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) which regulates health and social care providers was asked by the Government to investigate the treatment received by mental health sufferers in crisis.  CQC’s report has highlighted a disparity in the care and compassion that mental health sufferers have received in contrast to patients with other medical illnesses.

Reading was not one of the areas covered in CQC's investigation, however as mental illness is suffered by a large number of the population and the findings should be acted upon, here is CQC's report.  Do also read about the Charlie Waller Trust which is a local charity set up to help people with mental health illness.

Proposal Drawings for Arthur Clark Site

For those unable to go to yesterday's public viewing of A2 Dominion's proposal to build 44 apartments for the over 55s I've got permission to publish the indicative drawings here.

Please note that A2 Dominion is consulting the public at the moment and is yet to submit a planning application to Reading Borough Council (RBC).

As regular readers of my website will know, I sit on RBC's Planning Committee and therefore keep an open mind to avoid the risk of predetermining planning applications.

Yesterday I provided a little more information about this particular proposal so please refer to my last post.  Thank you.

The Future of the Arthur Clark/Albert Road Day Centre Site

On Thursday 7th October Reading Borough Council's Labour administration is proposing what should happen to the Arthur Clark/Albert Road Day Centre joint site.  I sit on the relevant Committee and will be representing the views of my ward residents.

If you have an opinion please let me know your thoughts before Thursday. You can read the report here and the appendix.

Essentially Labour wants agreement to sell off the site for new Extra Care Housing. They are proposing that the land is surplus to requirements and the Feasibility Study they have commissioned sets out the demolition of the current buildings, replacing them with a new building comprising 40 extra care flats which would be for rent, with associated ancillary facilities.

As I also sit on the Planning Applications Committee (PAC) of course I keep an open mind to proposals until any future planning application comes before PAC.

My question to readers is should this site's future be kept open to other possibilities at this stage?  Residents I have spoken with already are keen that Residential and Respite care, as well as Day care facilities are considered seriously.  What do you think?  You can contact me on 07717 292003, send me your views to my email address: mail@isobelballsdon.com or write a message on this post.

Thank you to those who have shared your views with me already.  This is an important site, particularly for residents living north of the river and I hope the administration will listen and act upon the public's wishes.

D-Day for Arthur Clark Care Home

Conservatives at the Reading Borough Council meeting on Tuesday stood alongside local residents to call for the Labour administration to scrap plans to close the Arthur Clark care home in Albert Road, Caversham. Residents protested outside the Council chamber before the meeting and packed the meeting to present a petition and ask questions of the Labour Lead Councillor.

Cllr Ed Hopper with protestors before Council

Due to the large number of signatures on the petition a debate was generated at the start of the Council meeting. The Labour administration moved a weasel worded motion referring the concerns of the petitioners to the Council’s new Adult Social Care, Childrens’ Services and Education Committee which meets on Monday 1^st July.

Thames Ward Councillors Ed Hopper and David Stevens then moved and seconded an amendment which called on the administration to “cease all attempts to close Arthur Clark care home”. This was supported by all Councillors except for the Labour administration. Even the single Caversham Labour Councillor and Labour’s Reading East Parliamentary candidate voted against the amendment!

After lengthy debate, Labour voted down the Conservative amendment and used their majority to push through their motion.

Cllr Ed Hopper said, “I wanted to give the Council as a whole an opportunity to say that the Arthur Clark home should remain open rather than see the decision pushed off to a committee of which only a few Councillors are members. I was pleased that so many Councillors supported my amendment but disappointed that Labour used their majority to override the views of others Councillors and the large number of residents in the gallery”.

Cllr David Stevens said, “This is the first time ever that the public has presented a petition with enough signatures to trigger a debate. I am amazed therefore that the Labour Group was not willing to listen to the strength of feeling locally and invest in this care home rather than just close it down. We will keep up the fight to ensure that the views of local people are heard and heeded.”

At the end of the evening after the presentation of the petition, exhaustive debate, and numerous questions Cllr Ralph (Independent) moved a motion which many had expected him to withdraw. It was rather after the fact, as the Labour administration had made their position clear in the earlier debate, but in the spirit of cooperation Conservative Councillors had decided to support Cllr Ralph’s motion and voted against Labour’s inevitable amendment. In the most bizarre moment of the night Cllr Ralph then voted in favour of Labour’s amendment and against his own motion!

Conservative Group Leader Cllr Tim Harris said, “It was a long and heated debate but what matters in this is the effect closure would have on the many elderly residents and the removal of a facility which should be retained to serve future generations north of the Thames. Conservative Councillors will be using every available opportunity to urge the Labour administration to think again and fight for a future for this much loved home.”

You can watch the council meeting online on YouTube and see for yourself 'democracy' in action.

D-Day for the Arthur Clark care home is Monday, 1st July at 6.30 pm.  Members of the public are encouraged to attend and, if they give advance notification of their intention to film proceedings are permitted to do so.

Update  You can read GetReading's report in today's paper here.  If you have a view on the future of the Arthur Clark residential care home why don't you post a comment?

Positive Change at Priory Avenue Surgery

Priory Avenue Surgery

Following my previous article on 16 January about Priory Avenue Surgery I was pleased by last week's public announcement that Specialist Health Services, a company founded and managed by local GPs, has won the contract to run the doctors' practice on behalf of the NHS starting on 1 May 2013.

There will be no change in service initially but as from July longer opening hours, from 8 am to 8 pm will be introduced with GP services available seven days a week.  For the first time surgery patients will benefit from being able to book an appointment online and have the opportunity to be reminded of their appointment by text if they wish.  This is excellent news as it will simplify and speedup what often can be a tedious process, restricted by the surgery's current opening hours.

I welcome the announcements and look forward to meeting the new GPs when next I or my family need an appointment.

Future of Residential & Day Care in Caversham Heights

Arthur Clark Residential Home

At last night's Cabinet meeting the future of residential & day care in Caversham Heights was discussed.

The Arthur Clark Residential Care Home, which provides care for 24 residents plus 2 respite care beds is in need of £1 million improvements/refurbishment if it is to be brought up to modern standards.

Albert Rd Day Centre

The adjacent Albert Road Day Care Centre has a capacity of 20 - though currently a daily average of 13 clients. As it shares services with Arthur Clark, for the Centre to continue as a single entity officers estimate £400,000 would be needed to bring it up to a decent building standard.  It gives carers a life-line by providing them with a break from their important role.

The Director, Avril Wilson's report sets out the necessity to either temporarily close both buildings to carry out extensive refurbishment to bring them up to the new standards: or permanently close them both.

On behalf of the Conservative Group I said that any proposed closure needed to be handled incredibly carefully and sensitively, but even more so places like these where there are vulnerable, elderly residents.  Much has been learnt over the years here in Reading since the heartache caused by the closure process in 2002 of Wilton House and I said that I'd been reassured by my briefing with Avril Wilson last week as officers are very much aware of the issues at stake.

I raised the fact that moving frail elderly individuals can have a dramatic affect on their health so only when it is absolutely essential should this be done.  I acknowledged that a difficult decision has to be made in this instance and pledged my Group's support to help work this through.

The Conservative Group naturally would like Reading's residents to have excellent care and accommodation and noted that the private sector provides better accommodation at a reduced cost.

I asked that if the Labour administration decides on closure, that they put the utmost effort into:

• Keeping residents, loved ones and staff fully informed and up-to-date
• Keeping friend groups of residents together
• Keeping residents close by and accessible to loved ones
• Optimising the closure timing to minimise disruption to residents; and
• Work with the local ward councillors and respective shadow spokesmen

Labour was grateful for the cross-party support and agreed the report's recommendation to go out to consultation, the results of which are expected in the summer.  You can read the full report here.

By the way, last week I'd asked Avril Wilson what the policy was about admitting residents into Arthur Clark and was pleased to hear officers had decided not to allow any new admissions whilst the consultation was taking place.  This is sensible - much better to put residents elsewhere until there is certainty over the future.  I asked if there was capacity elsewhere in Reading: the answer was yes.

Labour Scaring Patients

Today's Reading Post and last week's Chronicle covered Reading Labour Group's launch of an ill-informed petition deliberately scaremongering patients.

Priory Avenue Surgery

As a long-standing patient of Priory Avenue Surgery I was surprised and concerned by Labour's petition and their Caversham Councillor's letter (in today's Post).  Am I, my family and other patients at risk of being without a GP?  Is the Surgery on the "slippery slope" towards privatisation?  Will standards slip?  NO!

Priory Avenue Surgery is simply following the process created by the last Labour government.  As the GPs at Priory Avenue no longer wished to continue with their contract, NHS Berkshire put out the GP service to contract - as happens all over the country in these circumstances.  Contracts can be managed by a group of GPs, a private company, or sometimes a combination of the two.  Importantly it is always a NHS service, therefore governed by strict quality standards.

A local extremely well-used example is Broad Street Mall's walk-in Health Centre run by a partnership of local GPs and Virgin Care (formerly called Assura Medical).

Labour's silly petition

How else is Labour's petition misleading?  It was the last Labour government who introduced the current tendering process for private GP services.

Neither my family nor anybody else's family should worry about Labour's silly petition.  Read Priory Avenue Surgery's website and see the facts for yourselves.

The Labour councillors neglected to mention their Party supported patients having the right to choose any provider (including private) at the last general election.  They also omitted to say that as a result of changes made by the previous Labour government over a quarter of walk in centres are run privately.

It is interesting to note people who can't possibly be Priory Avenue Surgery patients are amongst the 22 who have signed since the petition was started on 31 December last year.  Also many of those 'brave' enough to have their name published are known Labour activists.  Strangely though neither Labour councillor mentioned in the publicity appear to have signed!

Care Home Investigation

Just over a week ago RBC received the autopsy results of a 95 year old who had been recovering from a stroke in a council care home.  As reported by the local media he contracted pneumonia and died from Legionnaires’ disease.  I pass on my condolences to his relatives and friends.

The Willows primarily is a dementia care home so most residents are elderly and particularly vulnerable.  It also provides intermediate care for residents needing a short stay before or after hospital. 

 

In my new role as Conservative strategic lead spokesman for Housing, Health, Community Care, Education & Children’s Services I asked for a briefing to ensure RBC was doing everything it should be to investigate this case, and to safeguard the wellbeing of the other residents in RBC’s care.  The following is, to the best of my recollection, what I was told.

 

An independent consultant was brought in on 10 November to investigate.  Some, though not all, tests at The Willows (previously called Tanfield) Care Home were positive for the Legionella bacteria.  The basin in the 95-year-old’s room at The Willows tested positive, as did the shower head in a communal bathroom.  Measures have been put in place to eradicate the two traces of Legionella bacteria at The Willows and to prevent it coming back.  Further tests are being carried out to ensure these measures have been successful.

Health & Safety Executive representatives are meeting RBC officers this week.  The Head of Adult Social Care is preparing a report detailing the chronology – expected to take weeks.  Councillors, including myself, will be able to scrutinise the case at the Adult Safeguarding Board, the next planned meeting for which is 4 December (though it wasn’t clear last week when I received my briefing whether RBC’s report would be ready in time or if a separate meeting would need to be convened).

 

The Interim Director & Council Manager confirmed that RBC adheres to the Health & Safety Executive’s approved code of practice on Legionella, that all staff and residents have been spoken to and kept up-to-date.  Only one of the residents has taken up RBC’s offer of moving.

 

I await the outcome of the investigation.

Update:  The Adult Safeguarding Board meeting has been put back to 18th December. 

Stepping Forward in the Dark

The Mayor of Reading (right) with Atkins the guide dog & me

At lunchtime I accompanied The Mayor of Reading, Cllr Jenny Rynn, to Broad Street where we met lots of people working & volunteering for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Jenny & I were keen to be blind folded to experience what it is like to be blind or partially sighted.  It was also good to help support the charity's awareness day by highlighting the difficulties visually impaired people face walking in a busy shopping area.

John Mudd from the charity was very happy to answer all our questions.  He introduced us to several volunteers who enabled us to try being guided by a person, then using a white stick and finally being guided by a dog. 



Atkins guiding me

Jenny trying a white stick

Being guided by a person was fine as I simply trusted my helper to keep me safe.  However using the white stick was daunting.  Even though I only walked a short distance, I suddenly became very conscious of all the noises around me and felt extremely vulnerable.  I was anxious not to be tripped up by one of the many A-frame signs that litter the pavement. 

Best of all - Jenny agreed - was being guided by Atkins a 5 year old dog who has a lovely friendly temperament.  As he walked his wagging tail gently swished against my leg which I found very reassuring.  His fluid forward motion made me feel reasonably confident to follow beside him. 

For me the experience of walking blindfolded really brought home the isolation, disorientation and vulnerability visually impaired people battle against.  This is an issue close to my heart as my paternal grandmother was almost blind.  She never wanted to use a stick or have a guide dog, I think because of embarrassment over her disability.  She relied on my grandfather and other family members to guide or drive her about and I fondly remember guiding her. 


John Mudd, me, Joel Young, Atkins, Jenny & 'Alfie'

John Mudd emphasised the importance of early intervention to help individuals come to terms with sight loss.  Currently Reading does fund this mandatory work, however I believe Slough has cut the funding so it is crucial to ensure Reading doesn't follow suit.  Cutting funding for early intervention work is literally short-sighted.  Helping an individual adjust and cope with ordinary day-to-day life things like getting dressed, cooking safely, getting out of the house to shop or taking exercise is invaluable work.   It can transform a blind person's quality of life, giving them the confidence to have a job and a family.

We both signed the petition for the removal of VAT on dog food for Guide Dogs, with a potential saving of £300,000 to the Charity.   As well as being alert to the necessity of ensuring the future funding of the early intervention work, both Jenny and I will highlight to the Council the danger posed by unnecessary street furniture like advertising boards and ask for this to be reviewed.

It is well worth having a look at http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/ for more information about the wonderful work the organisation does.  Do consider making a donation while you're there!

Update:  Over £2,000 was raised by Guide Dogs for the Blind in Broad Street on the day

Mental illness, Charlie Waller Trust and Van Gogh

This is a beautiful tribute.  Do take a few minutes to enjoy some of Van Gogh's inspirational paintings accompanied by Don McLean's song Vincent.


Sadly mental health is still taboo unlike other serious illnesses, even though it is all too common.  Around the world like Van Gogh people suffering from depression take their own life.  


Here in Reading the Charlie Waller Trust was set up in memory of Charlie with whom my brothers went to school and remained friends.  Charlie committed suicide in his thirties whilst suffering from depression .  His family set up the Trust in his memory to raise awareness of depression and of the symptoms of depression; to reduce the stigma attached to seeking help; and to ensure help is available when needed.


If you or someone you know needs help, do visit the Trust's site