Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust - Women’s Strategy 2007

1. Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust - Women’s Strategy 2007 Shirley McNicholas Women’s Lead

2. Development • Women’s Mental Health into the Mainstream (2002) • Strategic Development of Mental Health Care for Women • Mainstreaming Gender & Women’s Mental Health Implementation Guidance (Sept 2003)

3. Policy & Development • Objective- Improve & enhance service delivery for women service users. • Women need to feel that they are genuinely at the heart of the process. • All organisations should aim to ensure that they are sensitive to gender(& ethnicity) and the specific needs of women. Addressing their needs should be an integral activity. • Gender is fundamental to our sense of who we are, the rules we adopt, the way in which we experience and perceive others and how they perceive us.

4. Services Designed to… • Acknowledge & address links between social & economic contexts of women’s lives- women are more likely to live in poverty and be lone parents. • Address specific needs e.g. women more likelyto self-injure and attempt suicide. • Ensure women’s safety, privacy & dignity e.g. single sex services, clear guidance for staff in mixed settings. The provision of self contained women only ward is a requirement of the Mental Health Policy Implementation Guidance on Adult Acute Impatient Care Provision. DOH Sexual Safety Programme

5. Collaboration with Service Users • Engage with women service users on a partnership basis- NHS PLAN emphasised the ‘centrality of the service user’… ‘their needs, experiences & choices should be at the forefront of planning and delivering mental health services’. • Consult service users i.e. user forums ,consultation meetings, feedback forms, training women users to do audit etc, consultation with specific ethnic groups.

6. Service Provision Committed to Equality & Stop Discrimination • The policy context; 2003 Government report ‘Delivering on Gender Equality’ • Modernising Mental Health Services • Mental Health and Social Exclusion report 2004 • The Public Sector Duty for Gender Equality 2007

7. Implementation Guidance 2002 • National Targets: • Mixed sex accommodation to have been reduced in 95% of Trusts by 2002. • Women only community day services in each health authority by 2004 (NHS Plan)

8. Development of Strategy for Women in Secure Care- A re-provision process is taking place nationally to establish a network of secure services for women. • Training in Gender & Women’s Mental Health to be integrated into Trust training programmes and pre & post graduate training for all mental health professionals

9. Camden & Islington Local Women’s Strategy • Developed prior to launch of National Women’s Strategy • Grew from a women only service (Drayton ParkWomen’s Crisis House & Resource Centre)building on the experiences of women using Camden & Islington Trust Services. • WSG is fundamentally a user group coordinated & developed by women’s lead

10. WSG Focus • The Women’s Strategy Document outlines some issues women face: • Domestic Violence. • Poverty. • Racism & discrimination. • Single parenting. • Rape, sexual assault (studies indicate that at least 50% of women within the mental health system are survivors of violence & abuse; in secure settings this is higher). • Impact of oppressive religious or cultural beliefs.

11. Ongoing Action Plan 2006-2008 • A programme to remodel women's services across the Trust by increasing access to single sex services. Reconfigure secure services to withdraw women from mixed secure services. • To develop and sustain choices for women to use women only services e.g Women only days at Day Services • Develop good practices & offer support through training and policy change e.g Sexual AssaultPolicy and ‘Mixed Sex protocols

12. Action Plan • Women and Mental health Training within Trust Training Strategy. (offer adhoc training within teams) • To provide a base of support for the development of good practice across the Trust e.g rehabilitation & residential social network group.

13. National Women’s Strategy linked to the National Violence, Abuse & Mental Health Programme • Trust is piloting a 2yr programme introducing routine inquiry, at assessment, into childhood sexual abuse and other forms of abuse • Aim- this would lead to development of appropriate services , and highlight the link of CSA & adult mental health problems Shirley McNicholas (Women’s Lead ) & Tina Purcell (Camden Specialist Services Manager) are co-leads in the Sexual Abuse Team

14. Self Injury • Self-Injury- Nationally and within the Trust, recognition of the need for Harm Minimisation approaches (see Drayton Park Self-Harm Model) • Develop a Domestic Violence Policy & Protocol working with victims and perpetrators, staff and service users.

15. Raising Awareness of… • Covert inequalities in provision of services • Men & Women’s different use of services • Why women need different services • The need to support a network of staff across Camden & Islington

16. Other Issues to Highlight… • Adapting data collection tools so gender is automatically reported...Leading to gendered audit of pathways to services for women and men and therefore increasing appropriateness of care • Impact of the Patient Safety Agencies Report regarding the continued sexual assault and rape of women in mental health settings. This led to the Sexual Safety programme and funding available to Trusts now, to improve this issue for women and men • Changes to services for women improves services for men also.

17. Existing Women’s Services Across Camden & Islington • Amber Ward- enhanced Women’s Ward, Highgate Centre for Mental Health. • Drayton Park- Women’s Crisis House & Resource Centre, continued commitment to therapeutic alternatives & foundation of women’s services for the Trust. • Isis Ward- Women’s ward in North Camden, Grove Centre. • Isledon Road, Women’s Day on Tuesdays • Crossfields Day Centre, Women’s Day on Fridays • Mind in Camden, and Islington, provide Women only days. • Lambo- Women’s Group