MADELINE Craddock and Cllr John Aston rightly draw attention to the likely closure of Harvington Ward at Kidderminster (Shuttle, September, 8). It is part of the relentless cutting of mental health services in recent years including the day hospitals.
Even if the ward were to be saved for now, £2.3m cuts must be found from the mental health budget.
In our campaign against abuse of NHS staff, my organisation, Betrayed By Their Trust (BBTT), has focused on the growing pressure on frontline mental health workers who have fewer services to offer. Our members have attended the “consultations”
about so-called changes and expressed opposition to the bed closures including Harvington Ward.
Unfortunately, the Worcestershire Health and Care Trust claim that the proposals have widespread support and will improve the service.
Cuts are never described as such.
They are always presented by the trust as improvements.
BBTT’s contacts inside the trust suggest that staff are very worried about the state of the services but they are afraid to speak out openly.
BBTT is a small organisation and needs support from others if the truth about mental health services in Worcestershire is to get a hearing. All over the country it is admitted that financial cuts are causing damage – but not in Worcestershire.
Nigel Gilbert
Kidderminster
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