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Camden New Journal - Letters to the Editor
Published: 15 November 2007

Prisons are a ‘dumping ground’ for mentally ill

• I write in support of the comment (Web Notes) from the son of Mrs Evangeline Atkinson.
I note the three letters “Vulnerable deserve the chance of recovery” which refer to the proposed closure of the Tottenham Mews Centre walk-in mental health facility.
This closure would follow earlier closures and reductions in services over the past few months which have been reported in the local press. In her letter (August 30) “We need to keep mental health day hospitals open”, Prof Gertrude Falk outlined what is likely to happen following further closures and reductions. She concluded as follows: “Many of the most vulnerable of our society will be left without support and therapy. Desperate people commit desperate acts!”.
Further to the above, I would like to add that there has just been an extraordinary and revealing exhibition at the Novas Gallery in Parkway, Camden Town, of art and written work by women in prison. It is a shocking fact that 70 per cent of women prisoners have mental health problems. It seems that prisons have become a convenient dumping ground for women who have become offenders while mentally disordered. This probably applies to men as well.
Far from the closure and reduction of mental health facilities, these should be expanding to meet mental health needs, to provide treatments and therapies, not punishment by imprisonment for the (generally) non-violent small offences committed while mentally unwell. What is needed is care and compassion. There is something seriously wrong with a society that disregards the needs of so many disadvantaged groups of people (see other letters in CNJ every week). Highly paid politicians, strategists, policy makers, managers and administrators are not disadvantaged.
Perhaps the problems of mental healthcare provision should be referred to the Secretary of State for Health. The current lack of provision and closing down of services is really quite shameful.
MARILYN STEVENS
Hartland Road, NW1

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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