Latest news with #TheLampardInquiry
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
MP criticises 'patronising' mental health care
An MP with bipolar disorder said care she received had been "patronising, reductive, inconsistent and non-existent". Jen Craft, the Labour MP for Thurrock in Essex, created her own treatment plan due to her concerns about existing mental health support. She called for an urgent overhaul of community mental health care during a debate in the House of Commons. "I made the decision that I deserved to live and I deserved to live well - and also that my children deserved their mum," Craft said. MPs were discussing an amendment to the Mental Health Act, which aimed to reduce the use of detention and give people more rights over their care. Craft was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) as well as bipolar disorder by her 20s, but said she only received "good" care in exceptional circumstances. "I have never been asked what it is that I want from treatment, what it is that I want for my life and how I can be helped to get there," she told Parliament. "I have received care that is patronising, reductive, inconsistent and non-existent." 'I was sectioned and no one told me what was going on' Bipolar: Deacon and Fry on 'lifelong struggle' The Lampard Inquiry: What has happened so far? The debate heard arguments for ending the use of police cells to hold people who were being detained for mental-health reasons. Last year 34,685 people were detained under those circumstances, the majority to health settings such as a hospital A&E department. Craft said a fear of losing her liberty meant she had to "tread a fine line" when proving she was ill. "I know that more often than not, treatment is based not on therapeutic care but on risk management," she added. "Like thousands of others, I have had to create my own care package and my own route to treatment. "But, I am very aware that my ability to do this is based on a number of privileges, in no small part a very supportive family, which so many do not have." The Labour government's Health Secretary Wes Streeting previously said the "outdated" system needed changes to bring it "in line with the 21st Century". Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Mental health law 'won't stop detentions' MP opens Parliament debate with sign language Bill to ban police cell mental health detentions
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'Appalling' inquest delays hurt families
Bereaved families have been traumatised by "distressing and appalling delays" to inquest proceedings, a landmark inquiry heard. The Lampard Inquiry is examining the deaths of more than 2,000 mental health patients who died under NHS care in Essex between 2000 and 2023. Fiona Murphy KC told the hearing "institutional defensiveness" by health providers was hindering inquests and preventing families from getting closure. Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) has apologised to those affected. The public inquiry is England's first into mental health deaths, with evidence being heard in London after previous sessions in September and November. Ms Murphy told of the "horrendous" experiences that families she represented had during their loved ones' inquests. She said there had been an "extraordinary and shocking number of deaths" in inpatient units in Essex. "The families' experience has death of loved ones falling under the radar and of distressing and at times appalling delays," she said. The solicitor accused EPUT of knowingly disrupting inquest proceedings by being defensive. This included "unreasonably disputing" the relevance of an inquest, failing to provide evidence and delaying its disclosure. Ms Murphy said: "There has also been shameful misrepresentation that lessons have been learned when they have not. "These defensive behaviours cause real harm. "They cause the retraumatisation of grieving families, they obstruct the truth, they obstruct lesson learning and they act as a fundamental bar and barrier to change." Mum says son died in 'hell on Earth' facility Ex-footballer died after discharge, inquiry told Families mourn loved ones at Lampard Inquiry An inquest is a legal investigation into a death which appears to be due to unknown, violent or unnatural causes. Coroners can hold an Article 2 inquest when the person's death occurred while they were under state care. Ms Murphy said they had the potential to deliver "real meaning" for families, as well as change. However, she claimed a "systematic collapse of acceptable service delivery in Essex" was "undermining" this potential. EPUT chief executive Paul Scott has apologised for deaths under his trust's care. He said: "As the inquiry progresses, there will be many accounts of people who were much loved and missed over the past 24 years and I want to say how sorry I am for their loss." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. What is the Lampard Inquiry and what could it change? Mental health inquiry chair vows to 'seek out' truth Mum says son died in 'hell on Earth' facility The Lampard Inquiry
