Freedom of Mind Festival is coming to Bristol!
July 4, 2016 at 12:54 pm
A festival aimed at encouraging young people to speak openly about mental health is taking place in Bristol this autumn.
Katie Finch (left) and Ella Marshall (right)- co-founders of the Freedom of Mind Festival
Mental health campaigners Ella Marshall, 17, and Katie Finch, 22, are the brains behind the Freedom of Mind Festival, which will be running from September 30th to October 10th.
They hope that the eleven day event will encourage conversation, challenge stigma and raise awareness of how people – particularly young people – can look after their mental health.
A launch event at the O2 Academy will kick-off the festival, and it will culminate in a day-long conference to tie in with World Mental Health Day.
In between, there will be a number of exciting and engaging events happening across the city including a political discussion, film screening, and book signings. On top of this, there will be open mic nights, exhibitions, and coffee mornings run by local mental health groups, charities and interested parties.
While the conference is specifically aimed at the mental health of young people, all of the other events are open and accessible to other ages.
Freedom of Mind has secured the attendance of a number of high profile mental health campaigner Jonny Benjamin – the man who successfully set out to find the stranger who discouraged him from taking his own life in the #FindMike campaign.
Nathan Filer, the award-winning author of Shock of the Fall – a story about the life of a young man with schizophrenia – is also confirmed to be signing copies of his book.
The festival is already being supported by the Bristol Independent Mental Health Network, Off the Record, Bristol City Youth Council, Healthwatch, Bristol’s Clinical Commissioning Group, Bristol City Council and Bristol Festival of Ideas .
Arnolfini, At-Bristol, Watershed and Waterstones have also agreed to host some of the events.
The initial idea for the festival came from A-Level student Ella, who wanted to set up a mental health themed event to bring the people of Bristol together.
She met Katie last summer after they were put in touch to discuss collaborating over a campaign with the youth council.
Katie, who ran Mind Your Head week with Bristol Students’ Union in 2015 and speaks openly about her own mental health, said: “Ella just mentioned the festival in passing, and I took a real interest. We both got very excited, and straight away started scribbling down our ideas on the back of a piece of paper.
“We spent the first six months solidifying our plans about why we were doing the festival, what we wanted to achieve, and coming up with a name and logo.
“We’ve now established a strong committee of people, and around 100 volunteers have expressed interest to help make the festival a reality.”
She added: “We want Freedom of Mind to be about creating lasting change – we want everyone to feel just as comfortable talking about their mental health, as they do talking about their physical health.
“We all have a mental health, yet often we ignore it unless we start to struggle. Emotional difficulties can affect anyone at any time in their life, and we believe that everyone should have the tools to help themselves and others improve their emotional wellbeing.”
Ella, who is a member of the Bristol City Youth Council, said: “It has been incredible experiencing my vision come into fruition and evolve in front of my eyes.
“I remember being overwhelmingly excited by the initial graphics that were mocked up for the festival, not realising that a few months later I would have someone working full time to bring everything together.
“That someone is Katie Finch – she has been the driving force behind Freedom of Mind.”
The pair hope that the festival will become an annual event, and will generate ideas to help create an action plan to improve mental health services for young people across the city.
Tickets for Freedom of Mind are likely to be on sale from mid-July onwards.
If you would like to support the festival, whether it’s through holding an event, or offering sponsorship, contact . For more information about Freedom of Mind Festival, visit: freedomofmind.org.uk
July 4, 2016 at 12:54 pm | News | No comment
BIMHN shares vital feedback on local services
May 16, 2016 at 5:31 pm
BIMHN members had the opportunity to provide some vital feedback about the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust (AWP) as part of a forthcoming service inspection.
Health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), is reviewing the AWP’s services over the coming weeks to monitor whether the trust has made the required “significant improvements”, following an unannounced inspection last December.
And listening to the views of Bristol’s mental health service users, as part of the inspection process, is highly important, BIMHN has said.
A whistle blowing letter instigated last year’s unannounced inspection, and revealed a number of serious concerns including care and treatment not being provided in a timely way; a lack of safe care and treatment; staff not taking the right steps to safeguard patients from abuse; and unsuitable premises and equipment at two of its inpatient sites.
As a result, the AWP was served a warning notice under Section 29A of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 regarding the quality of its services.
BIMHN has continued to monitor the situation closely, scrutinising the delivery of the required improvements, and requesting regular updates on the progress, as well as more transparency – something they feel has been lacking over the years.
Two inspectors from the CQC attended the BIMHN meeting on May 9 2016, asking members what’s good about AWP’s current services and what can be improved.
Both inpatient and community care services – which are being inspected – were focused on during the meeting.
A wide range of comments were provided by members to the CQC representatives, who will now feed back to the commission’s inspectors.
Members were informed that once the overall inspection has taken place, it will take up to three months to compile and release the report.
BIMHN has requested that a representative from the CQC attends our monthly meeting in September to discuss the findings in the report and any proposed actions.
Do you have something you want to feed back about your experiences of using mental health services provided by AWP? You can contact BIMHN by emailing or you can contact the CQC directly at or by heading to their website.
May 16, 2016 at 5:31 pm | News | No comment
Future mayor must prioritise bus issue
May 5, 2016 at 11:57 am
Frustration has been expressed by the Bristol Independent Independent Network (BIMHN) over the lack of progress in resolving the Callington Road Hospital bus transport issue.
A petition was submitted at the March Full Council meeting, calling for the reinstatement of a bus service for the south Bristol hospital, which serves people with mental illness.
A response has now been received from the council, which states:
I refer to the petition regarding service 36 on Callington Road presented to Full Council on 15th March.
As you know, First Group took the commercial decision to reroute service 36 to remove the Callington Road/Brislington Tesco section in March 2015, in order to improve the reliability and punctuality of the service.
Since that time, Council officers have discussed with First whether this service can be returned to Callington Road, and considered the options for installing bus stops on the section between Tesco and the Wells Road junction. Before any infrastructure works can be further developed, we do require commitment from bus operator(s) to make use of any such facility. Whilst we have had no such commitment to date, we will continue to engage operators to see what can be done to improve the bus links to this area.
Responses to the statements submitted to the Full Council meeting are yet to be received, raising the question about whether the issue is being given the priority it deserves.
With city-wide elections taking place today, BIMHN will continue to lobby for improved access to Callington Road Hospital, and more parity of esteem between mental and physical health across the city.
BIMHN will very quickly be knocking on the door of Bristol’s new mayor to get this resolved.
May 5, 2016 at 11:57 am | News | No comment
Bus campaign well received at council meeting
April 5, 2016 at 10:49 am
Last month, members of BIMHN’s committee attended the final Bristol City Council full council meeting, before the May elections, to present statements regarding the Callington Road Hospital bus issue.
Brislington West councillor Eileen Means also presented a petition – supported by BIMHN – which gathered over 330 signatures, calling on the council to support the reinstatement of a bus service.
Two statements were submitted and read out by BIMHN, which Bristol mayor George Ferguson was requested to provide written responses.
BIMHN Campaigns Officer, Amelia Campbell, said: “The statement and petition were incredibly well received at the meeting from all councillors and members of the public observing which demonstrates the support for this campaign.”
Written responses to our statements will be published on our website along with any future updates.
April 5, 2016 at 10:49 am | News | No comment
Reinstate Callington Road Hospital bus petition
March 15, 2016 at 12:53 pm
A petition*, calling for the reinstatement of a bus service for Callington Road Hospital in South Bristol, has been submitted by BIMHN and Brislington West councillor Eileen Means for discussion at tonight’s Full Council meeting.
Over 330 signatures have been gathered in total – on both paper and online – for the petition, which highlights to Bristol mayor George Ferguson and Bristol City Council the current lack of transport at the site, which serves people with mental health problems.
In addition to the petition, statements (including from BIMHN’s secretary and campaigns officer) have also been submitted to the council, urging for a regular bus service to be reintroduced, and for more parity of esteem between mental and physical health.
Since First terminated the number 36 in March 2015, and Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust withdrew its free bus shortly after, there has been no regular service stopping directly outside the hospital.
The service was withdrawn by First on the grounds that it was the “worst performing bus service” in Bristol due to it getting stuck at the nearby Tesco roundabout.
A number of buses stop near the site, but require users to walk along a main road and through a poorly lit wooded area, which Avon and Somerset Police has actively discouraged people to walk though in low light.
BIMHN says that it is frustrating that no-one is willing to take responsibility for the lack of service to the site, and that the situation would not be tolerated if it was a hospital serving patients with physical illness.
A number of recommendations have been put forward by BIMHN in the petition:
- Bristol City Council to conduct a review for providing a new bus stop near Callington Road Hospital before the Tesco to act as an incentive for public transport companies to increase services along Callington Road;
- Install a new bus stop before or after the roundabout and make it fully accessible;
- For a key stakeholder meeting to be arranged with support from Bristol City Council before the end of April 2016 to outline progress and resolve any issues that still need to be addressed;
- Effectively market and advertise transport to the site from a variety of providers and locations to increase future use;
- Explore providing dated bus passes to patients of Callington Road which provide discounted travel on certain routes;
- A full cost/benefit analysis and rationale to be provided by AWP on the closure of the free bus service;
- For the Equality Impact Assessment for the closure of the AWP free bus service to be provided;
- When re-evaluating transport strategies and provision at regular intervals, ensure that patient representative groups are consulted before decisions are taken on route changes.
- For organisations to regularly engage with patient representative groups including BIMHN to review the provision of effective mental health services and access to them.
- For the current walk way to be maintained and made more accessible through the installation of lights, surveillance or any other appropriate measures.
Full Council is taking place at 6pm on 15th March 2016 at the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club in Nevil Road, Bishopston.
*Please note that this petition is no longer available to sign due to it being submitted to council.
March 15, 2016 at 12:53 pm | News | No comment
Bristol mental health trust is ranked ’cause for concern’ in national league table
March 11, 2016 at 12:48 pm
The Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust (AWP) has been deemed as a ’cause for significant concern’ in the recently published Learning from Mistakes league table.
The service provider was ranked 164 out of 230 in the list, which identifies levels of openness and transparencies within trusts and foundations.
It has come following the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) recent unannounced inspection of the service, which noted that “significant improvements” were needed to the mental health care provider.
The league table – published by the Department of Health – presents data compiled from the 2015 NHS staff survey and the National Reporting and Learning System.
It scores providers based on their fairness and effectiveness of procedures for reporting errors; near misses and incidents; staff confidence and security in reporting unsafe clinical practice; and the percentage of staff who feel able to contribute towards improvements at their trust.
AWP is one of 78 providers that have been given the ’cause for significant concern’ rating, alongside the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the North Bristol NHS Trust.
18 providers were ranked as outstanding, 102 as good and 32 had a poor reporting culture.
To download the league table, click here.
March 11, 2016 at 12:48 pm | News | No comment
Money and Mental Health Policy Institute launched
March 10, 2016 at 10:34 pm
A new multi-million pound policy think tank has been launched, which aims to help people with mental health problems manage their finances.
The ‘Money and Mental Health Policy Institute’ is the brainchild of MoneySavingExpert.com founder and finance expert Martin Lewis, who has donated £2million to the new project.
Research will be undertaken into the link between mental health problems and debt, while working alongside banks, lenders, regulators, health service providers and the government to create solutions around better protecting those with mental illness.
Martin says that the institute has been created based on evidence that “mental health and debt problems are a marriage made in hell”.
He said: “I’ve been looking at debt and mental health for years, and written many practical guides. Thankfully, business and the financial services industry have got far better at dealing with people who are having problems. Yet there’s never been any real focus on prevention.
“It’s a privilege to be in a position to try and do something about that. As a first stage we want to look at ideas which could allow people to put financial controls in place when they’re well, for times when they’re out of control.
“For example, spending sprees are common both with clinical depression and bipolar hypomania. So being able to put a freeze on your credit file that takes eight weeks to unlock, so you can’t apply meanwhile, would be useful. Lenders could also offer a ‘high control’ credit card option, so that if unusual spending patterns happen, the card is frozen for a set time unless a nominated trusted friend agrees to unfreeze it.
“This is the type of thing we want to research, and work with lenders to test and regulators and politicians to ensure the framework allows it to happen.
“Debt isn’t just a financial problem – it causes relationships and families to break up, and people to lose their homes and their lives. Debt is a common problem for people living with mental health problems, and it can make those problems worse.
“It is my dream that in a decade’s time, when you call up to get lending you could say ‘by the way, I’ve got bipolar disorder’ and no one bats an eye – they just say ‘sure, we’ve a number of control options you may want to consider’.”
Read more here.
March 10, 2016 at 10:34 pm | News | No comment
BIMHN response to Bristol mental health service inspection
March 10, 2016 at 9:28 am
Patients’ views are key to improving mental health services
Listening to the views of people accessing Bristol’s mental health services is vital if Avon and Wiltshire Partnership (AWP) wants to improve the way it cares for patients.
This is the call from the Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN) in response to a damning report, which revealed the NHS trust needed to make “significant improvements” to its services.
In December 2015, health watchdog Care Quality Commission (CQC) performed an unannounced inspection on AWP following concerns raised in a whistleblowing letter, as well as by users of mental health services and Bristol’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
As a result of this inspection, AWP was served a warning notice under Section 29A of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 regarding its quality of health care.
The six core areas identified as needing improvement were:
• Care and treatment were not always provided in a timely way.
• There was a lack of safe care and treatment.
• There was a lack of governance systems in place to manage the quality and effectiveness of the service.
• Staff providing care to patients did not always have the competence or experience to provide care safely.
• Staff did not always take steps to safeguard patients from abuse.
• Premises and equipment were not suitable at Brookland Hall and the Greenway Centre.
In the report, the CQC called on the AWP to “undertake an immediate review of the services’ waiting lists and case load, ensuring all patients are allocated to a care coordinator” and to “develop a system to ensure all referrals are tracked and followed up to ensure patients are not forgotten”.
The commissioner gave the AWP until February 1 to meet the requirements and provide information on how they plan to undertake the actions.
BIMHN has since been informed that the trust has met the deadline and that the CQC was satisfied upon further inspection on February 17.
However, the AWP is still subject to a comprehensive review of its governance, assessment and care planning, which should be completed by May 16.
Members of the BIMHN committee have been in conversation with AWP, CQC and Bristol CCG regarding the inspection, and are requesting regular updates on the progress, and more transparency – something they feel has been lacking as of late.
Concerns have also been raised by BIMHN representatives at the recent Recovery Bristol Partnership (RBP) contract and performance management meeting, set up to monitor how people are receiving treatment and support across Bristol.
The AWP has been invited to the network’s March meeting to discuss the report. A response has not yet been received.
BIMHN says that it will continue to monitor the situation closely and ensure the voices of its members, and users of mental health services across the city, are heard during this critical time.
If you have any queries or concerns then please email .
March 10, 2016 at 9:28 am | News | No comment
Proposed amendment to Bristol CCG constitution
February 11, 2016 at 5:55 pm
Bristol’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has proposed to amend a national rule, which prevents companies that legally avoid paying tax, bidding to run NHS services.
In a recent statement, the local commissioning group says that it has been informed by lawyers that the current wording in the constitutional document is ambiguous and potentially unlawful, as it discriminates against companies who legally pay little or no tax.
By amending the rule, the group says that it could avoid legal challenges which cause delays to commissioning plans and unnecessary costs to the CCG and the NHS.
The letter stated: “Our constitution is based on the national model and includes a provision that explains the circumstances under which we would exclude bidders from any procurement process.
“This wording was highlighted during a recent procurement and we took legal advice about our position.
“We were advised that the wording in the provision can be interpreted in different ways and could result in challenges to our decisions.
“There is a legal obligation placed on organisations to treat all bidders equally and in a non-discriminatory way in their contracting processes.
“If bidders comply with tax law and are not in breach of any obligations to pay taxes or social security contributions then we should not exclude them from procurement processes as this would be discriminatory.”
Concerns have been raised by local activists who say that while tax avoidance is legal, the CCG also needs to take “ethical and moral issues into consideration”.
The CCG says that it will not be entering into contracts with organisations which act unlawfully in paying their taxes.
Members of the public are being encouraged to have their say over the amendment. To share your views, please contact us at . The deadline to submit comments is 22nd February, so they can be collated and emailed to the CCG governing body in good time. A decision to amend the constitutional documents will be made by the group’s GP membership in March.
February 11, 2016 at 5:55 pm | News | No comment
BIMHN’s response to the West of England joint transport study survey
February 9, 2016 at 1:45 pm
As part of our role to ensure that there is parity of esteem for mental across the city, BIMHN submitted a response to the West of England joint transport study survey, highlighting Callington Road Hospital’s insufficient transport provision.
We believe that there is a significant contrast between transport to and from Callington Road Hospital, which provides care for people with mental illness, and Southmead Hospital, which treats physical health. There are at least 11 buses serving Southmead Hospital, however, there is not one serving Callington Road.
Our response to the West of England joint transport study survey:
“There are significant differences between the transport links to hospitals which treat physical illness and those which treat mental illnesses. Callington Road hospital in South Bristol currently has no direct transport access and the alternative requires vulnerable individuals to walk through a dark and un-kept pathway leaving them feeling unsafe. This is a total contrast to the transport links to Southmead and BRI which have multiple services from all over Bristol travelling to the sites.”
February 9, 2016 at 1:45 pm | News | No comment