Budget Day 2016: Save our NHS. Sack Mr Hunt.

I'm a #mentalhealth blogger with 

Borderline Personality Disorder  

after surviving suicide and stigma,

 a Member of @YouthHealthParl,

 an adult child of a dead alcoholic,

an amateur Radio DJ, actor and a panto Dame. 

Over the past year I have been brutally honest with my battles with my mind, money and with employment. An element of my battle will of course be my childhood, being the sole carer of an alcoholic mother who then died from it, however all of this was amplified by 21st century life and trying to contend with an ever growing workload. Its no surprise that in the end I snapped. As I've touched upon in past blogs, in June 2015 I tried to kill myself. I held on for three more months until the wheels finally failed and I've been off work ever since.

Click here for last week's blog 

We live in a country that at times appears to be peeking its head out of the recession. We are the 5th largest economy in the world. In the lead up to the recessions, companies cut back by letting good staff go and trimming services. Over the past couple of years as business started to return, or was found in new ways, agency staff were used as a stop gap or just disposable staff. These corporations are driven by profit so having fewer staff doing more work is perfect. It is perfect for them.

In the UK and the EU there are laws regarding how long people can work without a break or how many hours they must have of rest between shifts. This makes perfect sense because the last thing anyone wants is for a tired pilot to doze off and destroy Croydon or Coventry. Regulated breaks should prevent any lorry drivers from destroying a flyover and bringing the M25 or M62 with the economy reliant on it to a bloody halt. So why is it acceptable to take an overstretched NHS and drag it out even thinner into a forced 24 hour 7 day service. Would you really want an exhausted doctor, working several 12 hour shifts a week, looking after you?

"Junior doctors asked for contract renegotiations four years ago because they felt their current rotas were unsafe, with large rota gaps in the most stressful specialties that provide urgent and emergency care.  Hunt claims the NHS must learn from the airline industry, but no pilot would be allowed to work these rotas, and no airline would ignore the safety concerns of 55,000 pilots"  -  Dr Phil Hammond

Our NHS is the envy of healthcare systems around the world yet rather than supporting a successful yet buckling system we have Jeremy Hunt demoralising our vital NHS workforce, pushing them and therefore NHS services even further with even fewer funds. Staff are under pressure and breaking today - Mr Hunt's threats just crush our NHS even more. Just like my story, NHS staff (especially Junior Doctors) are falling from their mental and physical health because of Hunt's reign. Campaigns like MIND's #TakeOffTheTape encourage us all to fight stigma and openly talk about about minds and mental health; what is the point if there is nothing left of the NHS to support us?

We live in a country where more teenagers are self-harming than ever. We live in a country where the biggest killer of men is not guns, cars or cancer but suicide (men under 50, ONS). In the US, more people die from suicide than murder. Whilst UK suicide rates for women has hovered around the 5 per 100,000 figure, the male rate continues to climb from 17.4 per 100,000 in 2006 to 19 men per 100,000 in 2013. In short in the UK, one person ends their own life every TWO hours.

Click here to read my article about how
the NHS helped me survive suicide

How can we expect the NHS to save us and help solve our current mental health crisis when it is limping along with knackered ill staff?

Today is Budget Day. Rather than pledging more money in targeted ways to help combat those frightening statistics, encourage more people into healthcare and programmes to encourage mental and physical health well being (especially by employers) the theme seems to be more cuts like those big corporations chasing profitability.

In the end of 2015 I applied for support from welfare system. Personal Independence Payment, which replaced Disability Living Allowance. As I've covered in my articles for Huffington Post before, my condition is covered as a disability under the Equality Act, yet I am seeing people which variations of my condition and situation be refused that support. My income at the time of hitting publish is zero. The little I am asking for in support is to help me cover my mortgage and help me survive so I can keep up my fight and find some work in between. Last week I had my physical assessment which was purely to reiterate what my NHS GP and my NHS psychologists have told them but I am scared that despite paying my fair share into the system, I will get no support out. Something which regular readers of my blog who have seen my anxiety and debt grow, know is terrifying prospect.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said that Mr Hunt was "running the NHS into the ground". This week a Select Committee heard how NHS England is facing a £22bn black hole with a reliance on agency staff. According to Ipsos Mori, over 65% of the British public, including myself, continue to support a Junior Doctors strike. That is a vote of no confidence in Jeremy Hunt.

Dr Mark Porter of the British Medical Association said  Wednesday’s budget should be used to stop the NHS heading to “financial ruin”.

Is it my mental illness or am I seeing a pattern? Tampons are still taxed as non-essential yet spare aviation parts are VAT free. Around £3bn contracts for NHS services are now in private sector and just last week this Conservative government forced through a cut to cripple those with disabilities who need benefit support the most.

Whichever voting booth you have the chance to attend, I beg you consider this blog post (and have a look at my past too!). Please ensure your vote is for a council, MP and ultimately a Government who will support our NHS and therefore support us, the people, in our mental and physical health as we try to combat our suicide crisis. Your MP and your council work for you, elected by you, yet given the corporate behaviour we've seen I am petrified they forget this.

Organisations such as #ZeroSuicide think that if we all work together we can prevent every suicide, reducing the rate to zero. The people of our isle are not cheap nor are we disposable. We work hard and are proud of an NHS which does an amazing job to catch us when we fall and therefore keeps our economy in better position for it. When staff are stretch to breaking point, overworked and uncared for, the NHS and what remains of our welfare system tries to hold us but why aren't those responsible, big corporations and Mr Hunt himself, paying for the damage they cause? If we want to keep saving lives and save more, in terms of the suicide crisis but mental health and physical health as a whole, then we need to fight, support our Junior Doctors and save our NHS.

George, David and Jeremy... This is your chance to win the hearts and minds of the British public but also save the NHS and save lives - including mine.

_____________________________________________________

Thank you for reading and sharing my blog as always. It was a bit of a ranty essay this week but it really does worry me that the NHS which keeps me functioning is being destroyed and dismantled and it isn't for the benefit of the common man; unless the common man owns billion dollar healthcare companies!

Last week I did have my PIP assessment which went quite well. As I've mentioned before, a huge thank you to my friends and family who have kept me going these past few months and hopefully with the few different projects on the horizon; there is hope. Meanwhile, I end on a song.

Thank you for reading - please to have a browse of the past few posts and remember to share my blog and website on your social media. Ly xx

“The effects of mental illness in the U.S. cost nearly $210.5 billion a year in lost productivity and...” https://t.co/FLE0NrxZWN

— Matt Streuli (@mattstreuli) March 14, 2016

Check out more quotes on my #mentalhealth blog : mattstreuli.blogspot.co.uk
Posted by MattStreuli.uk - Mental Health Aware on Friday, 11 March 2016

How wonderful life is now your in the world x @emilycampling xx www.MattStreuli.uk

A video posted by Matthew E Streuli (@matthewstreuli) on Mar 10, 2016 at 3:23pm PST

What is the point of it all?

 xx click for full screen xx

Last week I told you how excited I was to be finding positives in my current negative and anxious situation. This week I should be excited as again I'm on the Huffington Post, my radio show is getting good ratings but most of all it is my 26th birthday on Saturday or Hallowe'en. So please tell me why I feel unconvinced about it all?

Why do we all put so much effort in? Whatever problem you are facing or task you are battling, once it is over there will always be something else.I found a poem which I put at the very bottom of this week's post I'd like you to read.

That said, I do understand the completing a task or challenge can be fun and rewarding. I really enjoy making my radio show and writing here and on HuffPost. I find it quite therapeutic and gives me something positive to focus on. Pantomime is coming along well and actually ticket sales are quite good so I am proud about that. On the whole I guess I am looking forward to my birthday; a group of freinds and family gathering to eat sweets, punch local trick or treaters and set off some fireworks. I'm currently debating whether I need The Reckoning Barrage from Tesco.

In good news, I spoke with Vodafone who upgraded me early with no fee to the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ and I love it. There are a few things I'm a bit iffy over but as the OS updates come through I am sure it will be great. The quality of the screen and the speed of the thing is very impressive. I also got my new washer dryer from AO.com. The product is fine but not overly impressed with their delivery staff - commenting on my flat being cluttered and so on. I have had a few downs this past week but I am trying to power through them. I dealt with the bombardment of my job so I can keep on top now.

This week's post is short as I would love it if you could go and read my latest article on HuffPost called You Give A Little Love and It All Comes Back To You after the song from Bugsy Malone.

 I used to consider myself as somewhere between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems on the UK spectrum but the more this Conservative Government does, the more I am convinced we as a country were safer when the Lib Dems were there in some role.  I'd like to finish on a poem (AT THE END/BOTTOM OF THE POST) which made me deeply think about my suicidal thoughts in the past few days.

Well Billy rapped all night about his suicide
How he kick it in the head when he was twenty-five
Speed jive don't want to stay alive
When you're twenty-five

- All The Young Dudes, Mott the Hoople - on this week's show on SouthWaves Radio!

Thanks again for reading and sharing xxx

Ooh Party Rings! With a cup of tea xx perfect #selfcare for #anxiety @ Iver Heath Village Hall https://t.co/6hQjfhyhEj

— Matthew E Streuli (@mattstreuli) October 26, 2015

http://mattstreuli.tumblr.com/post/132006585424/the-morning-after-i-killed-myself-i-woke-up-i

Mental Health Pledge with MIND - The Lib Dem Repsonse

Hello and welcome to a bonus post this week on my blog.  See, I do spoil you!
  
Check out last week’s post which was a mixture of comedy, curry and complaining by clicking here. My normal blog post will appear here later this week.

 

Below is an email I sent out to the major Political party leaders on 20^th March as part of a campaign by Mind, the mental health charity, which I am proud to be a member of.  To date, this is the only reply I have had so far which is from the Liberal Democrats. Given how many people will have taken part in Mind’s campaign I assumed the parties would have a generic adjustable response they would reply to all with… Maybe that is too organised!

 

I’ve posted a few new YouTube videos recently too (to cheer you up!) they are beneath this post.    Thank you once again for reading and sharing my blog. It means the world to me. TTFN xx

 

Sent on  Mar 20, 2015

Mr Clegg

I need your help.

My Mother died when I was 13. 4 years before that, she forced my Father out of the family home and her drinking became severe. Her drinking resulted in a 9 year old boy learning to cook, clean and care ALONE for a drunken 47 year old whilst taking himself to school. Somehow I survived that. Somehow I got 12 GCSEs and 3 A-Levels.

BUT it left a scar. I am 25 and I have been under investigation for almost 6 months with suspect bi-polar. I am on long term medication but find it hard to afford the monthly prescription on-top of the issues I have with work and confrontation. I still not have been assigned to a specialist for my suspected Bi-polar. I have seen 1 specialist once. I have a blog detailing my story at www.MattStreuli.uk

Mental health services are on their knees and people like me, hard working and wanting to recover, are being failed by the NHS. Over the past five years, Mental Health Trusts have seen funding cuts of 8.25% - around £600m.

The Government’s recent announcement of extra funding for children and young people’s mental health services is a step in the right direction and a reflection of the scale of under resourcing. But the rest of mental health services are suffering just as much and need significant investment. The statistics speak for themselves:

• Referrals to community mental health teams have risen by 20%
• Clinical Commissioning Groups are ignoring guidance from NHS England which instructs them to increase their mental health spending in 2015/16.
• The amount spent by NHS Wales on mental health fell by £24.3 million between 2011/12 and 2012/13.
• 2,100 mental health inpatient beds have closed since 2011, and the average adult acute admission ward now has a bed occupancy rate of 101 per cent.
• Between 2012 and 2014, the number of people who have to travel long distances – up to 300 miles - for emergency mental health services doubled from 1301 to 3024.
• Last year, over 6000 people were held in a police cell when having a mental health crisis, instead of a more appropriate health setting. - Is a Police cell cheaper than a hospital bed? So cheap we don't care?
• 75 per cent of people with anxiety and depression get no treatment at all in the UK. - HELLO!!!! ME!!!
• 3,300 mental health nursing posts have been lost in four years.

It simply isn’t good enough, not in 2015. Mental health has always been underfunded, and if we are ever going to achieve true parity of esteem, the funding needs to be addressed.

With the election just around the corner, will you publicly commit to increasing the NHS mental health budget by at least 10 per cent, in real terms, over the course of the next Parliament?

Mental health should not be hidden away. Mental health should have the same respect and importance as physical health.                        You can change my life.

Best Wishes,

Matthew Streuli

 REPLY from Liberal Democrats Apr 29  2015

Dear Matthew,

Thank you for your email to Nick Clegg about mental health services.

The Liberal Democrats believe that improving the treatment and prevention of mental illnesses should be a national priority. In Government, Liberal Democrats championed mental health and, in particular, Nick Clegg and Norman Lamb, former Lib Dem Health Minister worked tirelessly towards creating parity of esteem in the way we treat mental and physical illness.

Since 2011, the Coalition invested £400 million to increase access to talking therapies across England. We invested an extra £120 million to help implement the maximum waiting times for mental health from this year, alongside an additional £150 million over five years to improve services for children and young people suffering from eating disorders. Overall, the money going into mental health increased by £302 million in 2014/15.

In last year’s Autumn Statement, the Government also committed a further £2 billion to front-line NHS Services. NHS England wrote to every Clinical Commissioning Group to ask them to increase their mental health spending in real terms, in line with this extra funding.

Yet, there is still a long way to go if we are to reverse years of underinvestment in mental health. As a result of our hard work in Government, it was announced that mental health services in England will receive a further £1.25bn in new funding. The money, spread over five years, will help treat 110,000 more children with mental health issues, and also provides rapid access to treatment for pregnant women and new mothers.

But we need to go even further. If in Government again, the Liberal Democrats would propose topping up the Governments latest budget announcements to invest a total of half a billion pounds per year to improve mental health care and increase investment in mental health research. This essential support will be vital in bringing mental health out of the shadows, and getting people with mental health concerns the support they need now and in years to come.

Our Party is committed to investing in the NHS and protecting our health services, making sure that people with ill-health, whether mental or physical health, get the treatment they need. If you support the Lib Dems in our efforts to end the stigma surrounding mental health, please sign our petition and if you would like more information about the work the Party is doing - or would like to join us and help us get the word out about prioritising mental health care - please find out more about getting involved via our website or look at our 2015 manifesto (http://www.libdems.org.uk/manifesto).

Thank you again for contacting Nick Clegg.

Yours sincerely

Ian Stotesbury
Office of Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats

  

What do you think? Did this sway your vote? Does your party take Mental Health seriously? Let me know, in the comments below!
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