Cuts: show us the money! Take action now...

Last year Rethink Mental Illness, the national charity that we're a part of, asked councils to tell them if they had cut or increased the money they plan to spend on mental health services. They got some very confusing answers.

In fact, some councils asked them to wait for the figures they submit to the Government later in the year instead. They did - and these numbers weren’t clear either.

Rethink Mental Illness believes that you should be able to easily get to clear information that shows how much money your council spends on the mental health services they provide.

They think this is vital at a time when services are being cut and councils have less money. That's why Rethink Mental Illness is calling on Grant Shapps, the Minister responsible for local government to ensure that councils show communities what they are spending on services .

You can help by taking action. Find out what's happening in your local council and email Grant Shapps, the Minster for Local Government.

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Update on closure of MRI inpatient services

The NHS North West Board has approved the capital funding for Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust's Inpatient Pathway Redesign (IPR) Project. See the Trust's website for more information about this . This means that the Trust will now proceed with plans to relocate its inpatient services to two sites from the current three. The change will result in the inpatient beds that are currently at Edale House at Manchester Royal Infirmary being relocated to Park House on the North Manchester General Hospital site. The Trust says: "This will give us unprecedented opportunities to improve care to our service users and their carers." When the Trust announced its intention to close the inpatient unit at MRI we wrote to the Manchester Evening News to express our concerns about the extra burden this would place on some carers in terms of extra travelling time. The Trust's latest communication about the IPR states that: "The work in addressing concerns about ...

What an inspiring evening!

We had our 'Bring and Share' event tonight and as well as eating too much chocolate (again) I've come away feeling really inspired. We talked about all the skills, experience and knowledge that we've gained by either coping with having a mental illness, or though caring for a loved one who has been very ill. You can see all the ideas we jotted down from the discussion - from coming to understand your limitations (and that these can change), to developing patience, coping strategies and learning how to think positively. We understand how mental health services work and different illnesses themselves. It struck me, particularly from the people in the room who themselves have to deal with what can be devastating mental illnesses, that we're a pretty skilled bunch of people. For some, mental illness forces a process of self examination - and eventually self awareness - that is painful but hugely illuminating. It's a process that many of us won't have to go throu...

Park House relocation transport update

As readers of this blog may know, Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust is in the process of relocating psychiatric inpatient services from Edale House at the Central Manchester Hospital (MRI) site to Park House at North Manchester General Hospital. We've always been concerned about the impact that this move will have on carers and service users in terms of increased transport times. A representative from the Trust came to our meeting last month to update us on plans for transport and the Trust's latest newsletter contains the following update on the service user and carer transport sub-group: "The group last met on 6 February and it was decided that another visitor questionnaire should be undertaken to make sure that we make the right decisions about transport. It was also agreed that more engagement and communication with service users is necessary and the service users and carers who attend the meetings will support this....

Rethink Mental Illness Manchester Group

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