Last July I was elected to the council of Governors. This will hopefully allow me to use my knowledge and experience in a way that will be rewarding.

My own background since 1994 has been working in a variety of social care settings from running a night shelter in Stratford to a complimentary housing advisor for Camden Council. While managing in residential mental health my concern was to make sure my team was effective for the client. I stopped doing this work because while I worked with great staff I also found that the negative behavioural issues of some outweighed the management of the service users. For that reason I decided to no longer work in front line social care.

My views on recovery are based on my own personal experience. I was seriously ill in 1993 and treated at the Bethlem with hypomania. I was in my second year at university and a family crisis triggered my condition. I was ‘high’ but conscious of the disempowering reality of my situation. I fully accept that I needed the treatment and sanctuary of Hospital. My Uncle was very effective in my recovery by deconstructing my delusions.Plus I can’t negate the effectiveness of first generation anti psychotics even though I experienced unpleasant parkinsonian side effects .I asked a senior nurse at that time if she thought I would come back as a patient to the hospital, she gave a gloomy nod of affirmation. This increased my resolve to never become unwell.

After discharge I was placed in a shared house with two people who were strangers to me .I gradually re engaged with peers and rebuilt my relationships. After a while I moved out of that flat and got a council flat in west London and began work in care work seven months after my breakdown. I know how that may sound but I was strong enough to do this. I worked in mental health up until to 2008.

In February this year I began link working on the triage ward in the Bethlem. Much has changed for the better in the last twenty years. Being in hospital doesn’t feel like you’ve been sent to a quasi-Victorian institution. The triage ward layout and style mitigates the feel of ‘institution’ as compared to twenty years ago. Also issues of patient concern since 1993 have been listened to with the will to incorporate the views of the service user in decision making.

Today well-meaning words like ‘I’m fighting stigma’ are twittered on line while at the same time real concrete barriers still exist. Finding ways of removing hurdles into work would be more pragmatic and effective. Work is the key part of someone’s life, it makes us feel we can truly self-determine and create our own futures. The isolation caused by lack of work contributes heavily along with other indicators to a lower life expectancy. Creating workable structures in finding work and sustaining employment should be aimed for .I don’t feel comfortable when professionals are ‘fighting stigma’ while isolated people wither away unheard of and in some cases needlessly enduring anti-social behaviour on council estates. Effective policy is better than slogans.

Overall I think there could be a two sided approach. The first one should be the patient making a real commitment in being responsible for their own health. I know that sounds unpalatable to some but many medical conditions need personal drive and commitment to keep it from resurfacing. I don’t personally like taking medication but I’ve consistently took it for twenty years. I also exercise minimise drinking and avoid drugs. Effective self-management should ideally come from the individual and that is preferable to being handed a leaflet about your own health.

Secondly staff need to be forever mindful of how their communication with the patient is key, even from the initial stages. I'm sure commitment is being made to recruit staff that have at the very least that ‘intuitive and empathetic' quality. Good manners is a basic requirement in health care especially in mental health. There should be a little tolerance for negative attitudes and bad manners whether this is

on the wards or at the reception at CMHTs. Staff shouldn't be sent on courses to show them how to be ‘nice’ to others,that attitude should be assessed during selection and supervised by management once employed.

As a governor I hope to create a conduit between the executive and the grass roots. Having three service users on the council of governors is very symbolic. It’s wrong to assume we are all on the same page about how to tackle issues and that problems can be remedied with a pleasant slogan that we are all obliged to agree to. I hope to raise in discussion with my colleagues the complex contributing factors of mental ill health; some of those being class, housing and other barriers to social inclusion.

Chris Collins .Council of Governors

South London and Maudsley