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THE CINDERELLA SERVICE The
need for greater compassion and inclusion in handling mental health Green Party general election
briefing, June 2001 Margaret Wright Margaret
Wright is Principal Speaker of the Green Party of England & Wales, and
holds the Health & Social Services portfolio in the "Green
Cabinet" Introduction 1. There is a high degree of prejudice
and ignorance in Britain today about those suffering mental distress.
The Green Party calls for:- a. Open discussion of the degree of the
problem. b. Better services for users. 2. Green Party policies seek to address
the reasons behind the increasing numbers of people being treated for stress
and depression, as well as to ensure better levels of care when treatment is
necessary. This briefing seeks to outline the Green approach. Stress and job dissatisfaction in the public
sector 3. The Green Party is particularly
concerned at the number of public service workers who suffer extreme stress
and end up leaving their posts. In the health service, we now face the
irony of stressed staff trying to heal stressed people. It cannot
work. 4. Chronic under-funding and creeping
privatisation are among the causes of this situation. The Green Party
resists privatisation under whatever name. We believe that the health
service should be properly funded from higher levels of tax on higher
incomes, and should be free at the point of use. Mental ill-health from school onwards 5. Many people suffering mental illness
had a hard time at school. Green education policies, emphasising
co-operation rather than competition, are fully inclusive and give space both
for smaller schools and for introducing human-scale or small-school
principles into larger schools. These policies would cut down on
bullying, help those with learning difficulties, and help raise the
self-esteem of children and young people. This would have a significant
effect in helping minimise mental health problems. Employment 6. People suffering mental illness are
currently trapped by a "therapeutic earnings"rule which hinders
their efforts to find employment. The Green Party's Citizen's Income
Scheme, non-means-tested and available to all, would protect the poor and be
of particular benefit to those who experience recurrent bouts of mental
illness. Greater flexibility in hours of work and greater choice in
work done would assist recovery, and the government should strive to
facilitate these where possible. Prisons promote mental ill-health 7. The Green Party deplores the fact that
there are currently some 66,000 inmates in Britain's jails. Many are
addicted to drugs, many have learning difficulties and many suffer mental
health problems. Such problems continue when a prisoner is released.
Green policies for restorative justice would be far more effective in
rehabilitating offenders. Underfunding in the system 8. The Green Party deplores the
underfunding of the care system, the poor quality of food, the lack of
supervision which allows sexual harassment between users, and the cutbacks in
psychotherapy and in drama and art as routes to recovery. This is
happening while the pharmaceutical industry is reaping high profits from the
same sector of the health service. Poorer services for ethnic minorities 9. We are also concerned that ethnic
minorities are disproportionately high users of the mental health system and
may receive higher levels of medication than other users. This specific
problem must be looked into, and appropriate remedial action taken. The influence of the drug companies 10. The undue influence of the drugs
companies is adding to the problems of many people who use the mental health
system. While prescribed drugs help some users, many others experience
disabling side-effects which are too often dismissed by doctors. Health
should not be led by those with an economic interest in supplying particular
treatments. Existing services 11. A Green government would continue to
build on those existing initiatives which offer alternatives, which provide
therapeutic work (for example in organic horticulture) and which give time
for "talking treatments". Planning policy as preventive medicine 12. Alongside unemployment, poor housing
and isolation are major causes of depression. The Green Party places
planning at the heart of its social agenda. The facilities people need
should be accessible by reliable public transport. Streets must be
freed of heavy traffic. There must be adequate public open space, free
to be enjoyed by everybody. Curing prejudice 13. The mental health system does not
give users or their families and friends hope, since it labels people for
life. 14. The Green Party opposes the creation
of social ghettos of any kind. Mental health service users should be free
to socialise with others than those also using the system. 15. Much of the tabloid press in Britain
is prejudiced against the mentally ill, and the government appears unable to
resist a knee-jerk response to articles on the dangers to society of users.
The Green Party challenges these false assumptions. The need to protect
society from a small minority should not be allowed to impede quality of
judgement in a way that threatens the rights and freedoms of all users. Conclusion 16. The Green Party regards mental health
as one of the key issues facing society today. We have the policies to
improve the mental health of the nation. We ask people to vote Green to help highlight the need for
these policies. [ENDS] Green
Party of England & Wales |