Mental health charity under fire over service provision at Golspie unit
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NHS Highland is paying a mental health charity thousands of pounds for a service in Golspie it is not providing, it is claimed.
Local resident Alan Bithell, the chairman of Inverness-based Spirit Advocacy – a group that represents users of mental health services – alleges Change Mental Health is being paid to provide a service that no longer exists at the Gatehouse, Golspie.
However this is strongly refuted by Change Mental Health, formerly known as Support in Mind Scotland.
The Edinburgh based charity has operated out of the Gatehouse – a bungalow based in the grounds of the Lawson Memorial Hospital – for more than 20 years, offering a “comfortable, setting for people in East Sutherland who are affected by mental ill health to access support through groupwork”
Users are referred to the Gatehouse by GPs and community psychiatric nurses.
Mr Bithell, himself a former service user, has said that up until 2016, the Gatehouse was operating well, but the service altered following a change in management.
He claims there was a “lack of kindness” and a more rigid regime, with former Gatehouse users no longer able to drop by for a coffee and a chat if they felt the need, as had previously been the case.
Clients were also no longer able to chair monthly planning meetings or take minutes and the Gatehouse was closed at lunch-times, which it had not been before.
According to Mr Bithell, the Gatehouse closed at the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and has not reopened since. He said Change Mental Health initially offered support by phone and Zoom but that this petered out.
“There has been no service users on the books for nearly a year but they are still getting paid,” said Mr Bithell.
A Freedom of Information request he lodged with NHS Highland shows that Change Mental Health received £15,480 in 2020; £23,220 in 2021 and £15,480 last year.
“I think that is a minor scandal to say the least,” said Mr Bithell. “That amount of money could do a whole lot of good for the mental health of the people of Sutherland if it was used to provide a service. NHS Highland have known about this and not acted on it in a year.”
He added: “I am in touch with the Scottish Recovery Network who have developed a plan for people who want to develop their own mental health support group. They are encouraging people to get together and create their own support group. The idea is that these small groups will evolve into a service the community needs.”
Change Mental Health said the claims made by Mr Bithell were unsubstantiated and it strongly refuted the assertions of a “lack of kindness”, and also that service users had been banned from chairing meetings or taking minutes. It was acknowledged that service users were no longer allowed to stay in the Gatehouse over lunch-time, but “contingencies” had been organised such as coffee in the Lawson or locally.
The charity said it was “innovating for best practice” with a “new service model at the Gatehouse that was more transparent, fair and focused on recovery”.
It said last year had been a “transition year” for this new model. Service users had been consulted over it and those that did not like it, had left.
A spokesman said: “Every service user was engaged about the new model and consulted, but they left if they didn’t like the new model.
“We spoke to service users twice a week and those who didn’t want to take part in the new model were given a suitable exit plan and signposted to relevant support in the area.
“The support was quite limited, but it certainly wasn’t none as we were going through a transition to a new service model.”
NHS Highland said: “Change Mental Health is a third sector organisation which is partially funded by NHS Highland. They provide mental health drop-in services at Fort William, Golspie and Inverness.
“We were aware of changes made to the service due to the pandemic and, they have had significant challenges in recruitment which has impacted on the services.
“They have kept us up to date on their plan for going forward and, while we do not have an exact date, they are expecting to be able to open in the beginning of 2023 and will be running wellbeing groups, activity groups and courses that provide support to people to maintain their mental health and wellbeing.”
