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In Manchester and its surrounding
towns, the industrial revolution was driven, in part, by economies of scale in
terms of production, coupled with plentiful low-paid, often unskilled labour,
all employed in producing bulk products like cotton, coal and wool. Birmingham
on the other hand succeeded through the adaptability and creativity of a
largely skilled and diverse workforce. Inventiveness, innovation and the
ability to be transformational were the key ingredients of Birmingham’s early
success. Finding this out seemed very appropriate to the reason I was in the
city.
I was attending the very first
NHS Alliance conference since the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers were
merged into one new organisation. The conference was the Mental Health and
Learning Disabilities Annual Conference and Exhibition. Not only was it a first
for NHS Alliance, it was a first for me too. One of the most positive things
about such gatherings, is the opportunity to network, and it was wonderful to
catch up with many familiar faces. Likewise, it was great to be able to discuss
topics with the next generation of people, who like me, have a passion for
improving mental health care.
There were so many ‘take away’
thoughts for me. Some appeared seductively simple, but were actually quite complex.
For example, whilst undoubtedly mental health services in general have led the
way in co-production, recognising and embracing people’s ‘lived experience’, I
hadn’t thought of the concept of ‘living experience’. It was a great
concept of an ever-evolving repository of experiences that might challenge our
values, thinking, behaviours and sense of self – and probably importantly, our
sense of self in relation to others. For the first time in a long time, I feel
a paper calling….
There were many other interesting
discussions. There was a very challenging panel discussion on whether we were
doing enough to help people with a mental health problem gain employment. Clearly,
we are not. A great deal more could be done to help people back into employment
or even to gain their first job. The corrosive impact of not having a meaningful
job were powerfully illustrated by Craig Cleeton, an expert by experience, who
told of his own journey into employment.
Likewise, there was a brilliant
session on what makes for effective foundations in developing neighbourhood
mental health services. Predominately the discussion was led by Emma Tiffen, a national
GP advisor for community mental health and primary care. You could see why she
was an award-winning GP! What she described wasn’t rocket science. It was an
approach predicated on a real commitment to working together across the primary
and secondary care interface. I feel a trip down to Cambridge, where she is demonstrating
day after day what might be possible is on the cards.
Some of the discussions were less
inspiring. The ‘early days’ new national priority director for mental
health, learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders, Nick Broughton,
gave his first major speech since being appointed. Perhaps in a career-ending
comment, (but it’s always good to speak truth to power) it was a rather
underwhelming speech. Coming from someone clearly hugely experienced and
qualified, with a great clinical track record, I was disappointed. More so as
he was making the speech in a place of historical inventiveness, innovation and
the ability to be transformational.
In the interest of fairness, I
have been suffering (the right word) with sciatica all week and had left my
Tramadol at home. Maybe it was my ‘lived experience’ on the day that may
well have coloured my impressions. That said, and see above, there were some
totally inspirational moments during the day.