SRN responds to the Scottish Government’s strategy consultation |
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| Wednesday, 22 February 2012 |
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Director Simon Bradstreet reports on SRN’s response to the Scottish Government’s mental health strategy consultation and wider policy developments. At the end of January, the Scottish Government closed their public consultation to inform a new strategy for mental health in Scotland. The consultation generated around 300 responses and it was great to see so many people promoting the consultation and encouraging as many as possible to have their say. The importance of this process was summed up by one person who commented on our December article about the consultation by saying "everyone should have a voice in this." The SRN response, which was developed by our Strategy Group and staff team, highlighted a number of themes and ideas with a particular focus on how any future strategy might best promote and support recovery both within and, importantly, beyond mental health services. We welcomed this type of open and consultative approach to policy development but felt the consultation was too focused on NHS treatment services and suggested that more attention could have been paid to mental health support and services outwith the NHS, as well as to wider support for recovery like employment and inclusion. We also highlighted the potential for further development of Peer Support Worker roles as one means of valuing the lived experience of people in recovery and generating improved outcomes for people using services. We were delighted to note the commitment to the continued promotion of the Scottish Recovery Indicator service development tool and will be very interested to hear others views on how we promote its future use. This and other information gathered through this consultation about future support for recovery in Scotland will be fed into our new five year strategic plan which we are currently finalising. Our response highlighted the potential opportunities for recovery offered by the new drive for integration of health and social services. We feel that the nature of mental health problems and recovery means that more closely aligning services could help create more holistic and inclusive approaches to support. We welcomed the recognition of the importance of trauma in contributing to mental health problems and suggested that there is much to be learned from trauma informed and recovery focused practices. Another theme was our support for the development of new approaches to promote recovery that are focused on shared learning and empowerment, building on approaches like WRAP and recovery education and took the opportunity to encourage a greater recognition of the needs and role of informal carers and family members. Elsewhere in the world of policy, the process to develop a Self-Directed Support Bill continues. At the same time local authorities across Scotland are at various stages of embracing and encouraging self-directed support through the introduction of direct payments for social care services. This gives people using services a greater degree of control and responsibility over the social care services they receive. In some areas this has generated anxieties for people using services as the relationships between service providers and service users have been redrawn. When we reported on self-directed support in January the reader comments showed that opinions were divided. For one respondent the opportunities and choice offered were great: "I will feel more in control of any services that I purchase and feel, as the purchaser, that the provider is responsible to me and can't so easily palm me off with excuses when services or communication is not fulfilling the agreement." At the same time they recognised the need to raise awareness of this new approach: "there is a huge stage in enabling people to see the power and choice they can exercise and see it as empowering rather than something to be afraid." Another reader described how their needs varied at different times and that this meant they needed different levels of support making things complicated – a common concern from people in receipt of mental health services: "I use support services when I need them. Sometimes I need to use them on a very regular basis. At other times I don't use them at all. It can vary week to week, month to month. When I'm doing well I don't feel like using them at all. When I'm doing well I probably wouldn't get SDS which is fine until I do want to use support - then I'll have to be assessed. I'm used to getting the support I need when I need it. I don't fancy the hassle of having to go through assessments." With new legislation on health and social care integration on the horizon that could also have a big impact on mental health and recovery it looks likely to be a busy time for policy ahead. SRN will continue to feature news and updates as things develop. Comments (0)
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