'Secret' mental health report is published with glowing assessment
MENTAL health services in Guernsey are well resourced and are as good as, or better than, equivalent services provided in most countries in the world, according to a summary of an internal report commissioned by Health & Social Care.
The report, which was completed in December 2018, has never been published. However, HSC yesterday issued a 10-page summary of its findings, which describes very low waiting times, a sufficient number of in-patient beds and a focus on the physical health and wellbeing of patients.
HSC has also released details of the actions taken to address 35 recommendations.
For example, the report called for senior clinicians at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service to cease carrying management responsibilities. They no longer do so, according to HSC’s breakdown of progress. It also describes the creation of a clinical lead post at CAMHS, which followed a recommendation to appoint an operational manager. The original report and the summary were authored by David Gedze at the invitation of consultant psychiatrist Dr Dominic Bishop.
‘I commissioned him to produce a diagnostic report and then sit with us over six to 12 months during its implementation,’ Dr Bishop said. ‘I didn’t want yet another report that would sit on a dusty shelf.’
He said Mr Gedze had spent most of his career at the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, which is the biggest mental health trust in the UK. He was recommended by a fellow consultant psychiatrist. He spent two or three days in Guernsey every fortnight for six months in an oversight process which was completed just before Covid struck.
HSC president Al Brouard said Mr Gedze had been invited to visit again in the new year ‘in the spirit of ongoing continuous improvement’.
‘While there have been calls for a further review of the service, the committee’s position is that this is unnecessary,’ he said.
Dr Bishop said Mr Gedze had been asked to authorise publication of a summary after Deputy Lester Queripel voiced concerns raised with him by service users.
‘Anyone can say anything about us and we have no right of reply because of patient confidentiality,’ Dr Bishop said.
‘This creates a hostile environment around mental health in Guernsey which hugely impacts our recruitment and retention. Our jobs would be easier if we didn’t have to work against a demoralising backdrop of constant criticism.
‘Service users have an absolute right to go to their deputies,’ he added, ‘but we’d rather they came to us and gave us the specifics of their complaint.’
