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| How do we solve the mental health crisis? | How do we solve the mental health crisis? |
| (6 months later) | |
| The reduction in beds for mental health makes a good headline (“Number of NHS beds for mental health patients slumps by 30%”, News), but it is not the main concern. The article highlights the reduction in qualified mental health professionals: mental health nurses down from 46,155 to 39,358 and a reduction in the number of trainee psychiatrists. This is the real crisis. | The reduction in beds for mental health makes a good headline (“Number of NHS beds for mental health patients slumps by 30%”, News), but it is not the main concern. The article highlights the reduction in qualified mental health professionals: mental health nurses down from 46,155 to 39,358 and a reduction in the number of trainee psychiatrists. This is the real crisis. |
| It is estimated that mental health is 22.8% of the burden of illness in the NHS but receives only 10.8% of funding. The reduction in qualified professionals means parity of esteem for mental health is a pipe dream as there are not enough qualified people to employ if funding increased. Mental health policy needs to be dynamic and imaginative in addressing this paradox. There needs to be a stratospheric increase in funding. Initially, this should address training of mental health professionals. Funding should be aimed at increasing community provision, not bed-based inpatient solutions. Let’s ensure that inpatient admissions are only necessary after high-quality community alternatives are readily available and appropriately resourced and staffed. Richard BulmerSheffield | It is estimated that mental health is 22.8% of the burden of illness in the NHS but receives only 10.8% of funding. The reduction in qualified professionals means parity of esteem for mental health is a pipe dream as there are not enough qualified people to employ if funding increased. Mental health policy needs to be dynamic and imaginative in addressing this paradox. There needs to be a stratospheric increase in funding. Initially, this should address training of mental health professionals. Funding should be aimed at increasing community provision, not bed-based inpatient solutions. Let’s ensure that inpatient admissions are only necessary after high-quality community alternatives are readily available and appropriately resourced and staffed. Richard BulmerSheffield |
| Jamie Doward highlights the lack of hospital beds available for people with mental health problems (“Too little money, too few beds. Why mental health is in crisis”, News). It’s not only that sometimes a bed is unavailable, it’s that the threshold for being allowed an admission has risen astronomically. Where once a ward might have been a place of respite, too often they are now places that can only be accessed by the most manic, the most floridly psychotic, and the most at risk of hurting themselves or others. | Jamie Doward highlights the lack of hospital beds available for people with mental health problems (“Too little money, too few beds. Why mental health is in crisis”, News). It’s not only that sometimes a bed is unavailable, it’s that the threshold for being allowed an admission has risen astronomically. Where once a ward might have been a place of respite, too often they are now places that can only be accessed by the most manic, the most floridly psychotic, and the most at risk of hurting themselves or others. |
| The pressure on beds has increased due to the difficulties in the community. The caseloads of staff in the community have risen as the numbers of staff and specialists have fallen. Staff describe their frustration at being unable to care for people because they are constantly firefighting. Tragically, the choice is not how to put out the fires, but which ones to put out. Keir HardingWrexham | The pressure on beds has increased due to the difficulties in the community. The caseloads of staff in the community have risen as the numbers of staff and specialists have fallen. Staff describe their frustration at being unable to care for people because they are constantly firefighting. Tragically, the choice is not how to put out the fires, but which ones to put out. Keir HardingWrexham |
| Love thy neighbour? | Love thy neighbour? |
| I was sorry to read that Vanessa Kirby, the actress, was bullied at school (“Royal Flush”, Magazine). So I was surprised to hear that in her shared south London house they had “mad parties non-stop… vibrations going through to the little old lady next door... her house was constantly shaking at 4.30am”. Little old ladies have feelings too – take it from one who knows. Which bit of bullying, I wonder, doesn’t Vanessa understand?Jo Adams (71)Abingdon, Oxon | I was sorry to read that Vanessa Kirby, the actress, was bullied at school (“Royal Flush”, Magazine). So I was surprised to hear that in her shared south London house they had “mad parties non-stop… vibrations going through to the little old lady next door... her house was constantly shaking at 4.30am”. Little old ladies have feelings too – take it from one who knows. Which bit of bullying, I wonder, doesn’t Vanessa understand?Jo Adams (71)Abingdon, Oxon |
| Don’t blame academies | Don’t blame academies |
| “The great academies scandal” (Special report) makes the mistake of blaming the academy system for a range of problems, fails to recognise that such problems have been typical of our school system for many years, and makes the damaging and inaccurate claim that “the trusts that run them [academies] are failing”. | “The great academies scandal” (Special report) makes the mistake of blaming the academy system for a range of problems, fails to recognise that such problems have been typical of our school system for many years, and makes the damaging and inaccurate claim that “the trusts that run them [academies] are failing”. |
| It is the academy system that has brought a level of challenge to schools and that is now bringing such issues to light; schools under local education authority control have for many years avoided this level of scrutiny. A few examples from my 30 years in teaching, the last three as CEO of a multi-academy trust (MAT), may illustrate. | It is the academy system that has brought a level of challenge to schools and that is now bringing such issues to light; schools under local education authority control have for many years avoided this level of scrutiny. A few examples from my 30 years in teaching, the last three as CEO of a multi-academy trust (MAT), may illustrate. |
| As a newly elected teacher governor in a large maintained comprehensive in south London in 1997, I was shocked that one of my first finance committee meetings included a session where governors agreed not to pay £100,000 of invoices until the new financial year as we had run out of money – nor did we make any attempt to address this in the following year. We were doing nothing more than kicking the can down the road, avoiding our responsibilities to manage the finances properly. | As a newly elected teacher governor in a large maintained comprehensive in south London in 1997, I was shocked that one of my first finance committee meetings included a session where governors agreed not to pay £100,000 of invoices until the new financial year as we had run out of money – nor did we make any attempt to address this in the following year. We were doing nothing more than kicking the can down the road, avoiding our responsibilities to manage the finances properly. |
| As a newly appointed head shortly after the turn of the century, I led a large maintained comprehensive in a different part of London, a school that a year before I arrived saw just 12% of students passing five or more GCSEs. The improvement we achieved over the following years, however, was often overshadowed by several other local schools whose numbers by the end of Year 11 were 10-20% lower than at the start, with permanent exclusions in some close to 30 students a year. When I raised this with the local education authority, I was told not to ask “naive questions”. | As a newly appointed head shortly after the turn of the century, I led a large maintained comprehensive in a different part of London, a school that a year before I arrived saw just 12% of students passing five or more GCSEs. The improvement we achieved over the following years, however, was often overshadowed by several other local schools whose numbers by the end of Year 11 were 10-20% lower than at the start, with permanent exclusions in some close to 30 students a year. When I raised this with the local education authority, I was told not to ask “naive questions”. |
| Our MAT is improving standards in the academies that have joined our partnership by providing hands-on support to develop teaching and learning; our finances are monitored carefully by the Education and Skills Funding Agency; our systems are checked by an external audit firm; our standards are monitored by the local authorities where our academies are based, as well as by the regional schools commissioner; and Ofsted inspects our work. Staff work with the high level of integrity and professionalism that is typical of most other schools and academies. | Our MAT is improving standards in the academies that have joined our partnership by providing hands-on support to develop teaching and learning; our finances are monitored carefully by the Education and Skills Funding Agency; our systems are checked by an external audit firm; our standards are monitored by the local authorities where our academies are based, as well as by the regional schools commissioner; and Ofsted inspects our work. Staff work with the high level of integrity and professionalism that is typical of most other schools and academies. |
| I recognise that some academies make serious mistakes and that individuals and organisations must be held to account. Let’s not assume that all academy trusts are, however, bad; let’s focus on how we can make our diverse education system even better for the benefit of our students.Gordon Smith, chief executiveThe Collegiate TrustPurley, Croydon | I recognise that some academies make serious mistakes and that individuals and organisations must be held to account. Let’s not assume that all academy trusts are, however, bad; let’s focus on how we can make our diverse education system even better for the benefit of our students.Gordon Smith, chief executiveThe Collegiate TrustPurley, Croydon |
| Floreat Etona, left and right | Floreat Etona, left and right |
| Alex Renton is correct when he points out that the 20 old Etonian MPs currently sitting are all Tories, but this is far from usually the case (“Our educational apartheid laid bare”, Books, New Review). The first OE to be elected a Labour MP was in 1923, and the party consistently had OE representation on its benches from then all the way to 2010. Even Clement Attlee’s transformative postwar Labour government included two old Etonians: Hugh Dalton as chancellor of the exchequer and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence as India secretary.Andrew Cusack (Conservative, non-OE)London SE1 | Alex Renton is correct when he points out that the 20 old Etonian MPs currently sitting are all Tories, but this is far from usually the case (“Our educational apartheid laid bare”, Books, New Review). The first OE to be elected a Labour MP was in 1923, and the party consistently had OE representation on its benches from then all the way to 2010. Even Clement Attlee’s transformative postwar Labour government included two old Etonians: Hugh Dalton as chancellor of the exchequer and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence as India secretary.Andrew Cusack (Conservative, non-OE)London SE1 |
| You call that civilisation? | You call that civilisation? |
| A footnote to Rowan Moore’s article on the new libraries of the Arab world (“Spectacular weapons in a new Gulf war”, New Review) might remind us how, at the end of the 15th century, the diverse multitude of libraries in Granada, Moorish and Jewish, public and private, was destroyed by a European Catholic “civilisation”. Books and manuscripts that contained most of the knowledge needed for Europe’s Renaissance and eventual Enlightenment were publicly burned. We have to be grateful that the Christian Inquisition never extended its malign control as far as the libraries of Cairo and north Africa. John HowlettRye, East Sussex | A footnote to Rowan Moore’s article on the new libraries of the Arab world (“Spectacular weapons in a new Gulf war”, New Review) might remind us how, at the end of the 15th century, the diverse multitude of libraries in Granada, Moorish and Jewish, public and private, was destroyed by a European Catholic “civilisation”. Books and manuscripts that contained most of the knowledge needed for Europe’s Renaissance and eventual Enlightenment were publicly burned. We have to be grateful that the Christian Inquisition never extended its malign control as far as the libraries of Cairo and north Africa. John HowlettRye, East Sussex |
| England, their England | England, their England |
| Will Hutton calls for the marginalisation of “English nationalists” by a pro-EU popular front (“A social democratic alternative to populism is emerging. Look south”, Comment). | Will Hutton calls for the marginalisation of “English nationalists” by a pro-EU popular front (“A social democratic alternative to populism is emerging. Look south”, Comment). |
| This is bad advice and reveals why Remain lost in the first place. English identifiers did vote Brexit while British identifiers went Remain, but there is no political English nationalism worth the name: no leaders, no public intellectuals, no movement, no cultural organisations, no party. | This is bad advice and reveals why Remain lost in the first place. English identifiers did vote Brexit while British identifiers went Remain, but there is no political English nationalism worth the name: no leaders, no public intellectuals, no movement, no cultural organisations, no party. |
| The truth is rather more mundane. English identity is felt most strongly by those who have gained least and been most discomforted by social and economic changes. They also feel the least well represented by the political status quo. When elitist Remainers such as Hutton define them as the enemy, it merely confirms their worst fears.John Denham, director, Centre for English Identity and Politics, University of Winchester (and former Labour cabinet minister)Winchester | The truth is rather more mundane. English identity is felt most strongly by those who have gained least and been most discomforted by social and economic changes. They also feel the least well represented by the political status quo. When elitist Remainers such as Hutton define them as the enemy, it merely confirms their worst fears.John Denham, director, Centre for English Identity and Politics, University of Winchester (and former Labour cabinet minister)Winchester |
| Holiday reading for Brexiters | Holiday reading for Brexiters |
| In his reflections on being a child of the Irish border, Michael Hughes relishes “the irony that one of the most infamous local smugglers was alleged to be a senior figure in the IRA” (“Where do I stand on Ireland? That’s a difficult question”, Comment). | In his reflections on being a child of the Irish border, Michael Hughes relishes “the irony that one of the most infamous local smugglers was alleged to be a senior figure in the IRA” (“Where do I stand on Ireland? That’s a difficult question”, Comment). |
| An even greater irony is the fact that one of the Provisional IRA’s most notorious members, Eamon Collins, was highly effective owing to his status as an officer with HM Customs and Excise on the Irish border during the Troubles. He documented in detail how he exploited the hard border with lethal results in his autobiographical book, Killing Rage. I recommend it as holiday reading to those pro-Brexit MPs for whom the Irish border issue is no more than an irritating distraction. David HeadPeterborough | An even greater irony is the fact that one of the Provisional IRA’s most notorious members, Eamon Collins, was highly effective owing to his status as an officer with HM Customs and Excise on the Irish border during the Troubles. He documented in detail how he exploited the hard border with lethal results in his autobiographical book, Killing Rage. I recommend it as holiday reading to those pro-Brexit MPs for whom the Irish border issue is no more than an irritating distraction. David HeadPeterborough |
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