Camden New Journal - Letters: Vulnerable

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Camden New Journal - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 26 July 2007

Make your views known on services for the vulnerable

•THE availability of independent advocacy for people with mental health problems is under threat under proposed changes to advocacy services in Camden.
The loss of the community advocacy currently provided by Mind in Camden would have a huge impact on a very vulnerable group of people in the borough. Most suicides happen in the community, not on in-patient wards in hospitals. The community is where the vast majority of people who suffer from mental illness are. It therefore makes no sense to provide advocacy only to people on hospital wards as would be the case under the current proposed changes. Community advocacy supports the work of mental health services in Camden, by helping people engage with these services and to stay engaged with their treatment. In short, community advocacy is a cost-effective form of preventive medicine. A consultation on advocacy services began on July 3, with a presentation at a meeting of the Camden Mental Health Consortium.
A consultation document was distributed during the meeting that sates that “we [may need to] prioritise to our vulnerable in-patients above those of patients in the community who have access to support through a variety of means”.
Yet aside from the community advocacy service provided by Mind in Camden there are no generic independent advocacy services for people with mental health problems in Camden.
Where would the hundred or so people from all over the borough that used the advocacy service at Mind in Camden over the last year have gone?
If you want to keep the service for Camden then make your voice heard before the consultation ends on July 31. E-mail your submission to angela.neblett@camden.gov.uk
THOMAS KABIR
Torrington Square, WC1

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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