‘The mark of a civilised society is how it treats its weakest members’

Dear Editor,

It was great to see our local MPs Liz McInnes and Simon Danczuk MP speak out so prominently on mental health issues as Simon Danczuk did in on Rochdale Online on 17 November 2015 when he said: “In Rochdale, suicides have gone up by 25% since 2010. The rate is 11.8% against an average of 8.9% in England.

“We have a much higher rate of male suicide. If the Government continue to get their approach to this wrong, there will be more and more needless deaths. Are they going to fund mental health services properly?”

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/99290/simon-danczuk-slams-government-over-rising-rochdale-suicide-rate

And also again the recent statements Liz Mc Kinnes MP again on Rochdale Online on:

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/98380/liz-mcinnes-and-councillors-join-antiausterity-protest

When she also said that: "People feel very strongly that policies such as the cuts to tax credits, cuts to local services, and cuts to frontline emergency services are unnecessary and are motivated purely by the Tories’ political ideology rather than any economic necessity.

"I will take every opportunity, both locally and in parliament, to make the feelings of ordinary working people known, and I will continue to fight for a fair deal for people here in Heywood and Middleton."

All of us at Rochdale Boroughwide User Forum (RBUF), and I’m sure the majority of the 30,000 plus highly vulnerable and directly affected individuals who consider themselves to have some form of mental health diagnosis, ranging from moderate to severe, applaud and will take comfort in the fact that both Liz McInnes MP and Simon Danczuk MP have spoken out so publicly in support of our Mental Health Campaign Group open letter to local politicians.

The full text of this letter and its signatories can be found at:

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/97504/one-hundred-people-a-day-with-mental-health-problems-are-having-their-welfare-benefits-sanctioned

This open letter has received national coverage to reach and engage with as wide an audience as possible:

http://www.welfareweekly.com/letters-politicians-urged-to-help-safeguard-benefit-claimants-with-mental-illness/

We intend to further cascade this campaign into our local communities and hold decision makers accountable early in the New Year.

In the interest of political impartiality and fairness RBUF would like to add that we have also have excellent ongoing moral and material support from Lib Dem Councillor Andrew Kelly whose office is directly above our own on Drake Street and who could not have been more supportive and valuing of our independent organisation its ethos and its ambition to support local mental health users.

It is a massive a credit to Councillor Kelly personally and to his party that we have a building hub to which to the growing numbers of local people seeking mental health can turn to support in very difficult times. Each and every day we operate is an example of a local politician supporting our service users and their families. We all are especially grateful to Councillor Kelly and always mindful of the daily personal and professional support he has directly offered our charity in financially straightened times.

In addition we have had messages of support from Rochdale and Oldham Green Party who, as with all above, fully appreciate the significance of cutting back on any services to mental health provision at a time when local need is visibly increasing and issues like for just a few examples stress and anxiety, schizophrenia, insomnia, depression, and local suicide, self-harm rates escalating.

We would urge Councillor Ashley Dearnley, leader of Rochdale Conservative group, to add his voice to this cross party consensus on mental health so that some of the undoubted impact of central governments cuts to services can be mitigated. We know too, that like us and many others, that Councillor Dearnley will have seen the proposals to further decommission adult social care provision and as such should understands what further Conservative Government austerity measures will mean to local people as they come to pass in future council budgets.

On the front line here in Rochdale charities and support organisations are being expected to meet ever growing demand with ever dwindling resources; this cannot continue indefinitely without a significant negative impact on those seeking help or those organisations providing support our decision makers need to act, and act before we see further significant damage to the individuals who make up our diverse communities borough wide.

We would much rather see significant increases in mental health funding than what looks like a proposed 20% reduction to vital front line adult social care service provision in April 2017.

We also take great comfort in the fact that leader of Rochdale Council and Rochdale Labour Group, Councillor Richard Farnell, has responded to us positively to our open letter, saying that: “During the current period of financial pressure Rochdale Borough Council has kept the protection of vulnerable people as a key priority. RMBC continues to support the residents wherever possible, especially those who have a disability or a mental health issue.”

We know that Councillor Farnell is a man of his word and a principled politician. As such we do hope those individuals making such decisions to decommission vital services heed his wise words.

Finally, in the New Year, RBUF Mental Health Campaign Group will be launching an online petition against the continued sanctioning of vulnerable people with mental health issues by the DWP locally and 100 people a day nationally collating evidence of the lived experience of local people who have been sanctioned as a piece of community based and university supported and facilitated research for national publication in October 2017.

Yours,

Andrew Wastling
Chairman
Rochdale Boroughwide User Forum Mental Health Campaign Group