Re: Thursday discussion group
- From: Dawn <dawn.sellick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:59:49 GMT
Tim wrote:
Got told yesterday that the discussion group i attend is being stopped.The prospect of it happening has been on the cards since my first care co-ordinator, who originally ran the group, retired and it
was made known that the decision making ranks at my local mh centre
were less than enthusiastic about the group.
Numbers have dropped through people being discharged and there has been
a deliberate policy of not replacing those who have left.
It is of course much easier to champion the lack of viability of a group
with regards to effecient use of resources when you have cynically reduced it to 4 clients being supervised by 2 staff.
The fact that all of us who are left find the group beneficial and the
two running the group state that we have gained through being a part of it seemingly counts for nothing.
It doesn't fit in with the way the decision makers autocratically
think we should be helped or believe is good for us.
Obviously the less than intelligent minds amongst the decision making
echelons have not cottoned on to the growing evidence that clients
do better if due consideration is given to those things that they
find beneficial.
Unfortunately i would imagine that the gulf between what mh professionals autocratically deem to be helful/useful and what clients
individually find as being so is disturbingly wide in many an area
of the country.
We were asked how long it should take for the group to wind down.
I said that i personally saw no point in prolonging the stay of execution. The two others present were for taking 2 weeks or more
to wind things down.
In the end we agreed to the group ending in 2 weeks time.
Then having done so one of the staff announces that she will be
on holiday in 2 weeks.
It is now in the air as to whether next week or three weeks time
marks the end.
Despite expecting it we were all shocked to be told for certain that it is ending.
We all thanked the staff for running the group. It is after all not the
'foot soldiers' who are to blame for the policy dictats of their superiors though they are the one's who most often take the flak from
clients who are left angry/hurt/demoralised and disillusioned by the
actions of their superiors.
Even though i do do other groups like gardening and rambling and will
hopefully be starting a swimming group they are groups of a different
nature and do little to mitigate the loss of the discussion group.
I am luckier though than the poor sod whose only group happens to be the thursday discussion group.
The shell shocked look on his face was all too agonisingly evident.
If only there was a group whose sole purpose is to hunt down
and publically execute those higher echelon mh professionals
who think nothing of riding rough shod over the clients they are
paid to help ;)
Tim, that's such a shame, and so unfair. I do think you're very brave in going to a group in the first place, and you've written in a positive way about such a negative situation. I suppose it's too much to hope that there'll be any change of mind amongst the powers that be, but good luck with your other groups, and the new swimming one. If it makes swimming fun, let me know, as it's something I've never enjoyed.
((((Tim))))
Dawn
x
.
- References:
- Thursday discussion group
- From: Tim
- Thursday discussion group
- Prev by Date: Re: Thursday discussion group
- Next by Date: Re: OT :- What a cool invention :-)
- Previous by thread: Re: Thursday discussion group
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
