PEOPLE are suffering in silence because of the stigma attached to mental health in Guernsey, it has been claimed.
States member Marc Laine (pictured) believes that many points were missed in a critical independent investigation into the service, which was released by Health and Social Services ahead of its States report that will be debated at the end of the month.
‘I think the key thing to remember is that a lot of people are suffering as a result,’ said Deputy Laine of the document.
‘Somewhere at the bottom of the report is stigma. Whether it is in primary or secondary care, the fact that mental health has been stigmatised has meant that people suffer in silence.’
Part of this was because of the Castel Hospital itself, he said.
Deputy Laine backs Health and Social Services’ plans to centralise mental health services at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, treating the issue like any other illness.
Staffing was also a problem, he said.
‘Clearly the lack of qualified in-house staff affects the quality of treatment. There are a lot of people who build a relationship with a counsellor or psychiatrist [to find] that on their next session is a different psychiatrist.
‘There doesn’t appear to be a strategy anywhere for mental health. If you look at their business plan there doesn’t appear to be a plan of action, and that’s got to change.’
Primary care was another issue because GPs were often told not to refer patients unless their illness was life threatening.
But that meant patients who could not afford private treatment were suffering and were often unable to work, therefore claiming supplementary benefit, he said.
‘We have to put some primary care into practice. It’s not acceptable and there’s a financial case for it as well.’
Deputy Laine added that staff were dedicated to the service and that a lot of the problems lay with management.
He called for HSSD to abide by the report, change the service and bring it up to scratch.
Article posted on 13th January, 2009 - 11.30am
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