Lee Brown explains how Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa
The missing disabled mental health service-users
Patients who have both physical and mental health requirements are suffering under the current system — they must be listened to and their input taken on board in the upcoming reforms, writes RUTH HUNT
nhs
Join the traditional march from Clerkenwell Green, which will bring together countless international workers’ organisations in a statement against the far right
The money tap to anti-Cuban agitators will never be shut off under Trump
Mountains of research show that hardcore material harms children, yet there are still no simple measures in place
We face austerity, privatisation, and toxic influence. But we are growing, and cannot be beaten
Trump’s economic adviser has exposed the actual strategy: forcing other countries to provide financial support for US hegemony
Activist Angie Zelter has been arrested more than a hundred times. She’s not stopping now, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
THE long-awaited White Paper reforms to the Mental Health Act (1983) contain some important proposals that begin to address the long-standing issues such as discrimination in who gets sectioned and the role of relatives — but there are still some groups of patients who face particular challenges when sectioned who don’t feature in these measures at all.
One such group are those who have both a mental illness and physical disability or health condition who find themselves sectioned but who face the same problems time and time again. This can have devastating consequences for their health and make service users justifiably nervous when handing over their care needs to psychiatric staff so they can concentrate on getting well.
Of course, there can also be problems for patients on a physical health ward with their mental health needs not being met, but many service users say the main difficulties surface when on the psychiatric side, where they can suffer neglect due to the attitude and ability of staff and inaccessible wards.
More from this author
By making Personal Independence Payments harder to access, Labour is creating another barrier for those already struggling with soaring care costs, workplace discrimination and prejudiced employers, argues RUTH HUNT
The NHS continues to say Covid spreads primarily through ‘droplet and touch’ while the WHO emphasises airborne transmission, meaning vulnerable patients and healthcare workers face unnecessary risks, reports RUTH HUNT
Behind the Samaritans’ promise to always listen, callers face secret restrictions and automated blocks while the charity admits setting limits without clearly warning ‘frequent’ users they risk getting cut off — or why, writes RUTH HUNT
What’s needed are more truly accessible homes, radical reform of the private sector to protect disabled tenants, and a less myopic view of the housing market focused on ‘homeowners,’ argues RUTH HUNT
