Thursday 20 December 2007

Christmas Wishes and Shocking Truths

Dear All,

Sorry for the lack of updates recently - this has been because there has been little to report as my family and I are just waiting for the courts to kick into gear in the judicial review into my mum's inquest. As I think we all know, a fight for justice such as my mum's case can take a very long time and be very drawn out, but this will not deter us from continuing.

Whilst we watch the inquest into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Al-Fayed, continuing on the television day in and day out, we hope that we will one day be able to secure such a detailed investigation into our mum's death. The inquest into their deaths are important, but we hope that my mum's death is seen as just as important, as well as the potential impact on the Victorian system which caused her death.

We are pleased that Mind are still supporting us and believe that, without juries, inquests into deaths of people detained under the Mental Health Act are discriminatory. See their campaigning newsletter at http://www.mind.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/FF355335-5079-48A1-A5D3-A27D8119F1E0/5956/MiA25.pdf.

On another less-than-happy point, an answer to a Parliamentary Question on 17th December showed that between a quarter and a fifth of all deaths of people in mental health institutions detained against their will are classed as 'unnatural'. This is a shocking 231 deaths between 2004 and 2006 alone, and shows the depths of the crisis in our mental health care in Britain. Details of the PQ can be found here.

It is with this in mind that, over the Christmas period, my family will be recuperating and redoubling our efforts to have my mum's case heard fairly, and to push for better safeguards for all. We now know that the government does not even collect figures on the number of inquests which are heard before a full jury, showing the sad disregard we seem to have for the most vulnerable people in our society.

Looking towards the festive period, my family and I wish you all a peaceful and restful period. We ask that you think about friends, family and others who will not be at home this Christmas, and will be forced to stay in mental health institutions, hidden and without the care and attention they have a right to receive.

If you have not done so, I urge you to sign the petition to call for greater transparency in inquests: just visit http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Coroners/. It shouldn't take more than two minutes and we need at least 200 signatures before the end of January to get a response from the Government. Please also get everyone you know to sign too - a small effort will support our call for action greatly.

With kind wishes to you all,
Steven Allen

Tuesday 30 October 2007

Petition To Prime Minister Opened.

On 23rd October, Mr. Ivan Lewis, Under Secretary of State for Health, released figures showing that the numbers of deaths in mental health institutions during 2005-6 were 1,980. This is higher than previously thought and goes further in establishing the true scale of the crisis in our mental health institutions up and down the country.

Mr. Lewis provided the information in answer to a Parliamentary Question tabled by member of parliament for Islington North Jeremy Corbyn which can be viewed here. Although figures have been dropping in the last few years (from a high of 2,970 in the year 2001/2) the high number suggests that far too many are still entering our mental health institutions and are never leaving.

The information provides further support for my family's proposition that all cases where people die in mental health institutions should be properly investigated by coroners. We say that this can only happen if inquests into deaths of people in mental health institutions happen before a jury, in exactly the same way as is automatic for prisoners who die in prison.

We are therefore today launching a petition (click here to sign) to ask that the law be changed to make this happen. The Coroner's Bill is currently being drafted and is expected to be announced in the Queen's Speech next week. Please sign the petition and get your friends and family to as well. Every signature will support the cause that these deaths simply cannot go unnoticed and a proper investigation is vital.

I will write again when we know the dates for our High Court hearing, which we are just waiting for now. In the meantime, thanks for the ongoing messages of support.

Steven

Monday 1 October 2007

A Sad First Anniversary

Dear All,

The first anniversary of my mum's death will come about tonight (1st/2nd October) at just after midnight; a year which has been marked with grief and a fight for justice for my family and which is still a long way from being finished.

Sadly in the year since my mother's death there have been the deaths of numerous others in our mental hospitals up and down the country and, indeed around the world. 'Deaths in custody' as they are euphemistically termed reached 600 in the year to April 2007: these included deaths in prisons, police cells and mental hospitals, the latter by far accounting for the vast majority of these deaths. Please have a look at the Forum for Preventing Deaths in Custody's website for more information.

Whilst suicide and 'death by natural causes' are the most frequent pronouncements by those who investigate the matters, the experience of my mother's death and the ensuing investigation has shown the depressing lack of quality of these investigations in the first place. An investigation which is focused merely on the extremely limited medical evidence without any anxious questioning of the imprisoning environment is, surely, a failure of justice but, more importantly, a failure of morality.

A judiciary which is unwilling to hold the elements of our state to account - especially where the death of an individual in their 'care' or 'custody' - is, to borrow a phrase, unfit for purpose.

It is with this saddening reality that my family continue to take a campaigning approach after my mother died in the first few minutes of 2nd October 2006, choking on her vomit, surrounded by the cacophony of state-negligence: a sleeping security guard, the lack of proper medical training of nurses, the lack of proper care, dignity or humanity.

As we have repeatedly said before, my mother's death raises broader questions about mental health in our society. Why, the question can be asked, is it that we are so quick to incarcerate people with so-called 'mental illness' - both for their own protection and that of society - and then submit them to poor, callous treatment in an area of the NHS which hasn't seen the boom of its medical brothers and sisters? Why do we still see so many people with mental illness not just in our mental hospitals but also in our prisons and trudging their way through our criminal justice system? Why can't we value the lives of our fellow human beings?

'Mental illness' is still a Cinderella aspect of our society, shunned and hidden, feared and loathed, misunderstood and oppressed. This dehumanisation - culminating in the death of the 'mentally ill patient' in the state's arms - is a truly wretched state of affairs. The question then is why do so few people seem to care? And why can't so many people see that it could be them that suffers a similar fate to my mother?

But as our solicitors prepare to lodge papers - the wheels of justice turn extremely slowly - at the High Court in our challenge of the discreditable conduct of Dr. Andrew Reid, we are remembering the reason for our struggle once more. The laughter, humanity and decency of our mother made her an important human being - not a person with mental illness. It is in her memory - and with those in mind who have, are and will suffer the tragedies of our present system - that we will continue this fight for justice, even though the odds are definitely against us.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and words over the last year.

Tuesday 4 September 2007

Deaths of Mental Health Patients a Hidden Scandal

As my mum's case continues to move slowly, I've decided to do some research into deaths of patients who suffer mental illness. The amount of research in this area is not very substantial - unsurprising given people with mental illness are so low down on the list of public priorities - but some of the clearest information is available in the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness. Whilst the report also covers so-called 'sudden deaths' its interesting to find that this is not noted on the report's title page.

Shocking statistics uncovered by the government-sponsored research include:


  • There are 41 'unexplained deaths' per year on average in British mental hospitals, many of which are put down to pre-existing conditions such as cardiopulmonary disease. Treatment for elderly and vulnerable patients in these situations is marked out as being inadequate and requiring action for improvement. Of these deaths 85% had occurred on in-patient wards and 28% occurred when the patient had been detained under the powers of the Mental Health Act.


  • 1,300 people with mental illnesses commit suicide on average every year having had contact with mental health services within three months prior to their deaths. 233 suicides per year were identified as preventable.



The sheer scale of these deaths is shocking it itself, yet the recommendations of the report seem to fall well short of sugegsting any form of public inquiry, especially into deaths which are known to have been preventable. Yet families and friends of deceased mental health patients do not have the protections of broad investigations in the way that families of those who have died in prison.

One preventable death a year is bad enough - these figures seem to suggest a national scandal

And, to add insult to injury, deaths of mental health patients are not treated any differently to anyone elses, despite the fact that mental health service often have a significant impact on these people. Surely there is something very wrong in a country which does not properly investigate the deaths of some of the most vulnerable members of our society. My family and I will continue to fight on in the face of this scandal in our country's mental health institutions and fight for change.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind wishes,
Steven Allen

Wednesday 29 August 2007

The legal process grinds on slowly indeed

Firstly my apologies for not posting an update for a while. The legal process in my mum's case is now moving at a snail's pace but my family and I are hanging on until we are able to go back to the High Court.

At the present time we merely have to wait; all we are waiting for from the Coroner, Dr. Reid, is a transcription of his discredited proceedings which we wish to challenge. Sadly my family have had to wait for justice for my mum on numerous occasions and we are unsurprised by Dr. Reid's disrespectful slowness in providing the vital information we require to challenge him.

We are considering the next steps in relation to the campaign for justice for my mother, and are actively seeking offers of advice and support. Please feel free to email me at steven.allen@gmail.com or leave comments on this blog. One of our ideas is to create a space on the site for people to share their experiences of injustice within the mental health sector in whatever format they prefer.We believe it is important to directly challenge the stigma of mental illness in our society and are looking at ways to make this a proactive and sensitive project. Let me know if you're interested in this too.

We will be organising an evening memorial event around the time of the first anniversary of my mum's death at which we hope to be able to meet supporters in person. Information about the event will follow as we are currently putting together ideas for a fitting tribute.

Finally, it is the International Day of Peace on September 21st (www.internationaldayofpeace.org). Please take the opportunity to think about ways you can also challenge the stigma of mental illness in order that we can all live in a more just society.

We wish you all well,
Steven Allen & family

Sunday 15 July 2007

Coroner's verdict a whitewash - challenge to follow

Dr. Andrew Reid, the coroner for Inner North London, held a hearing last Thursday to deliver his verdict on the cause of my mum's death. Unsurprisingly, and in a highly criticised move, Dr. Reid decided to hand down a verdict of death by natural causes after failing in his legal duties to hold a full and proper inquest. Indeed, he did not even back up his verdict with reference to any law whatsoever, seemingly showing an arrogance for the position which he holds. My family now intend to take this further and will be writing to the Office for Judicial Supervision

After criticising my family for walking out of the hearing when he refused to hear our evidence, Dr. Reid said that my family's evidence was "irrelevant". With aggression imbued throughout a rushed verbal judgment where he refused to look at my family once, Dr. Reid said he was not interested in the high drug treatments my mother was forceably given, nor was he interested that my mum was regularly assaulted by patients due to her vulnerable nature. Dr. Reid clearly thought that is was acceptable to leave my mother with a number of serious health conditions untreated for months, including MRSA. He also condoned the actions of staff of the mental hospital the night my mum died, even though a security guard was found to have delayed life-saving treatment by sleeping whilst on duty, not allowing an ambulance crew access to the building.

However, as he went on to explain, he had a number of "more pressing cases" than the death of my mum. We believe this to be a miscarriage of justice, and incredibly disrespectful to the memory of my mother who, for over 40 years of her life, suffered the indignities and discrimination associated with a mental illness. Of course, his decision cannot go unchallenged and we look forward to holding Dr. Reid to account at the High Court in the coming weeks.

My family and I would like to express our thanks to everyone who has joined the campaign over the last few weeks - the supportive messages have been a true source of strength for us and we cannot thank enough all those who have offered to help. With the Mental Health Bill currently gong through Parliament - which will mean more people will find themselves coming in contact with mental health services - we believe it is vital to campaign for change.

Anything less would be disrespectful to my mother's memory, and to the memories of all who have not survived the mental health system in this country. It is not merely a matter of poor public services, but literally a matter of life and death.

In the next few days we will be asking our supporters for their assistance more than ever by writing to government officials and we plan to set up an online petition soon. Until then, my family and I would like to wish you a peaceful week.

Kind wishes,
Steven Allen and family

Monday 9 July 2007

Are you available this Thursday 12th July at 9am?

After almost five weeks since the coroner adjourned the Inquest into my mum's death my family have finally been informed that Dr. Andrew Reid intends to hand down his judgment in open court this Thursday 12th July at 9am.

Whilst my family took the unusual step of walking out of the evidence stage of the hearing, because we believed that Dr. Reid wasn't interested in listening to us, it is vitally important for us to hear what he has to say on Thursday. His judgment should provide reasons that he decided not to hear any of our legal submissions, and will likely form the basis of our return to the High Court.

If you are available on Thursday morning for an hour or so then please try to come to the court to show your support. The address is:

St Pancras Coroner's Court
Camley Street
London
NW1 0PP


A map of the location can be found here and the court is about a 5-10min walk from King's Cross St. Pancras Tube and Train Stations. Your support would be greatly appreciated.

If you intend to come then please drop me a quick email to let me know - steven.allen@gmail.com.

With very best wishes to you all.
Steven

Thursday 28 June 2007

A short update

Apologies for the lack of updates recently, but things are still moving forward in my mum's case, behind the scenes.

Dr. Andrew Reid, HM Coroner for Inner North London, and the coroner who has been conducting my mother's inquest, has still not given my family and I any indication of when he intends to deliver his judgment. This is despite all the evidence being heard over three weeks ago and my family are upset that he appears to be treating us with such contempt.

In any event, we are making preparations to challenge him again in the High Court if he does not dramatically change the way he has dealt with my mum's death. He has not heard the evidence my family wish to provide, and he still appears to be thinking that my mum's death is not worth proper consideration.

In an important development in my mum's case, we can confirm that a major national charity has agreed to support my family's fight for justice, agreeing that my mum's death raises wide questions about mental health and inquest law in Britain. Further information will follow about this shortly.

Although people who die in prison automatically get a broad inquest into the circumstances of their death - and rightfully so - detained mental health patients do not. It cannot be right that our society ignores some of the most vulnerable members of our society in such a deplorable way.

We would therefore like to announce that we will be holding a public meeting in the next couple of weeks, in my mum's memory. We are in the process of inviting a number of speakers to discuss the issues raised by my mum's death and will use the event as an opportunity to push for change for all mental health patients in Britain.

Finally, we urge you to tell your friends, family and colleagues about our campaign for justice. My family and I are committed to pushing for change and we can't do it without your support.

With kindness,
Steven Allen

Saturday 9 June 2007

Press Coverage, and Dr. Reid wavers

The first article online about my mum's case can now be found on the Camden New Journal website here. You can send your comments into the paper at the bottom of the article, so please do so if you can.

It appears that the Coroner, Dr. Andrew Reid, may be taking his time to come to a verdict, though has indicated that he is heading towards a verdict of 'death by natural causes'.

My family and I believe this would be a miscarriage of justice.


With thanks to the Islington Tribune

Of course, my family think that my mum's death was preventable, and though Dr. Anna McGuiness from University College Hospital said it was not from an A&E medicine point of view, my family have evidence to suggest that my mum should never have been given the sandwich that choked her in the first place.

Indeed, there may also be further implications for the security guard that was sleeping the night of my mum's death too. However, in a dramatic turn of events last Tuesday, Dr. Reid said he'd been completely unable to find the security guard to give evidence, with the last known information about him being that he'd gone on a 'long holiday' to the Caribbean.

And, although my mum's death may have ultimately been due to choking on a sandwich, the question still remains as to why the hospital did not prevent this, my mum being assaulted, my mum being prescribed powerful anti-psychotics inappropriate for her age, and why staff seriously neglected my mum on a systematic basis.

My family and I now believe that Dr. Reid has wavered in the face of our opposition to his appalling conduct in this case, leaving open the possibility that he could still change his mind before giving his verdict, thereby summoning the jury we require. Fingers crossed but, of course, we will fight on if he doesn't see sense.

Further updates will follow this week.
Steven

Thursday 7 June 2007

Jeremy Corbyn MP agrees to give evidence

Today I met with Jeremy Corbyn MP to discuss my mum's case. He passed on his sincere condolences to my family and agreed, in an almost unprecedented move, to submit evidence to Dr. Andrew Reid, the Coroner, about my mum's death.

After my mum was physically assaulted in January last year and the attacks continued, my family wrote to Mr. Corbyn to intervene. He wrote to the mental health trust asking for a report and suggesting that things should improve, and he is now prepared to tell Dr. Reid why he thought my mum's care was sub-standard.

My family are also in negotiations with a national charity who are interested in the case and will be helping out. Information will follow about this shortly.

Finally, in the next couple of weeks, my family are planning to organise a public meeting and a candle-lit vigil outside the Highgate Mental Health Centre where my mum died. We are doing this to tell our friends and supporters in person about what happened to my mum, and why we need to keep fighting for justice. Again, details will follow.

I'll sign off by saying that media attention is starting to pick up, with the first article about my mum's case published in the Islington Gazette today. We have a number of other articles coming up soon and we think the national press are soon to start reporting the case.

We will keep trying to get this information out as widely as we can so that we can get things changed, once and for all, so that no family ever has to go through the tragedy that we have.

With peace to you all,
Steven

Wednesday 6 June 2007

Walking Out of Court

I write this update after two days of my family trying - and, ultimately, being unable - to get justice for my mum in the British courts.

At the end of last week, solicitors instructed by my family lodged urgent Judicial Review proceedings at the High Court in London, to apply for an order that the inquest in my mum's death - set for Tuesday - be mandatorily adjourned.

Unfortunately, Mr. Justice Underhill, who heard our urgent application on Monday afternoon, was not persuaded that the inquest - being heard by Dr. Andrew Reid, HM Coroner for Inner North London - be adjourned at short notice. He did, however, give Dr. Reid a second chance to consider his positions on very important aspects of the inquest, including:
  • his failure to call a jury to hear the matter, which the family want because we dispute some of the facts about the way in which my mum died, and that juries are a fundamental principle of Justice in democracies, which we have a right to;

  • his failure to call expert evidence about the way CPR was commenced, the delay of ambulance staff getting to my mum due to a security guard sleeping, and strong drug treatments which were completely inappropriate for my mum;

  • his failure even to call myself as a witness, though I was the person who formally identified my mother after her death; and

  • his serious failure to investigate the circumstances surrounding my mum's death, in breach of the Human Rights Act, whereby my family wished to give evidence that my mum was physically assaulted on numerous occasions, that staff failed to see all the risks to my mum, and left her untreated for serious health problems which had a severe strain on her.

Appallingly, Dr. Reid had not even given reasons for these decisions, choosing to force my family to take him to the High Court. I cannot explain how stressful the entire experience was.

Although we were unsuccessful in getting the inquest yesterday adjourned, Mr. Justice Underhill did allow us the opportunity to go back to the High Court if the coroner failed to act in accordance with the law.

My family and I then worked late into Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday morning, preparing all the legal documents for the inquest. As the coroner had refused to adjourn the hearing, my family had not been given enough time to get legal aid, and so I was forced to be the advocate in court.

On my first occasion having to give legal argument in court, I was patronised, bullied and maligned by Dr. Reid. Instead of wishing to hear my reasons for applying, again, for him to take his duties seriously in this case and therefore adjourn, he decided to shout at me for calling him 'Your Honour' rather than 'Sir'.

He refused to grant the adjournment and said he was not bound by the Human Rights Act - a very serious error in law for a judge to make, and which we intend to expose when we go to the High Court. Whilst the witnesses from the hospital where my mum died were represented by a senior and experienced solicitor, Dr. Reid refused to accept that my family even needed legal representation.

My family then agreed that Dr. Reid was clearly not going to listen to anything we said, whether in law or in evidence, and so we decided to leave the courtroom, to Dr. Reid's shock and surprise. When we return to the High Court, we will be applying for the inquest - which he continued to hear evidence for after we had walked out - to be quashed and heard before a less biased coroner who is able to make his decisions in line with the law.

Friends and family were at the court yesterday and provided much-needed support to us all, at a time when we feel that our rights - and our mum's memory - are simply being trampled upon. We would like to thank all those who have supported us so far, and we intend to continue the fight until we get justice.

Tuesday 22 May 2007

Justice for Sandra - An Introduction

Sandra Jean Allen was born on 17th July 1945 and died whilst detained under the powers of the Mental Health Act 1983 at a hospital in North London. Sandra was my mother.

The purpose of this blog is to keep friends, colleagues and supporters updated about my family's struggle for justice about my mother's death. My family and I believe that the circumstances of my mum's death raise serious questions about the entire mental health sector in Britain.

My mum suffered from Bipolar Affective Disorder - known to many as 'manic depression' - and fought a lifetime battle against this condition for over 40 years of her life. In the latter years of her illness, my mum had to be admitted on many occasions to hospital as my family and I simply could not care for her at home during crises.

Sadly, my mother died in hospital, in shocking circumstances.

My mother died on 2nd October 2006 after being found on the floor in the bathroom on a ward in hospital. My mum had been falling regularly due to severe strain on her body caused by serious physical health problems, many of which were untreated by nurses, including MRSA.

The drug treatment included a drug named acuphase - a 'major tranquilliser' - a drug that would normally not be used on elderly patients such as my mum. Nursing staff have said they thought my mum had the 'constitution of an elephant' and so gave it to her anyway. However, they didn't take into account the fact that my mum had a heart condition, and acuphase is known for causing heart failure - which my mum died from.

However, this is just one of the failings in her care. My mum, sadly, suffered numerous attacks from other patients, and, she stated, staff, because she was doubly incontinent. Her dignity was frequently trampled upon and staff admitted they simply could not deal with my mother's physical health problems. They also failed to assess the risks posed to my mother by other patients and her treatment, and her physical health rapidly deteriorated during her last hospital admission.

On 17th August 2006 my mum was seriously assaulted by a younger patient. This patient was moved to another ward, but shortly after allowed back after writing an apology. But the attacks did not stop - and staff continued to ignore the risks faced by my mum.

Injuries started to appear all over my mother's body and staff could not account for them. Indeed, they said my mum fell a lot - but didn't do anything to help her. Indeed, they never even did a proper risk assessment.

On the night of my mum's death, she should have been supervised to her bathroom where she told staff she would go to the toilet. Mysteriously, the hospital staff have claimed that my mum no longer needed constant observation as she had been cured of incontinence, falling and risks from other patients.

My mum laid on the floor of her bathroom for 10 minutes before anyone noticed.

What happened next is almost as shocking as the overall care that my mother received whilst in hospital. A duty doctor didn't have the correct life-saving equipment and commenced CPR, allegedly, before clearing my mum's airways. Staff were unable to use oxygen equipment and, during this time, my mum was being starved of oxygen.

Although ambulance staff were called, a security guard at the mental hospital was sleeping, and they weren't able to get access to the building for 6-7 minutes - the last minutes of my mother's life. My mum died shortly after being rushed to the local A&E Department.

A coroner opened an Inquest into my mother's death but has refused to hear all the evidence in the case. My family and I are challenging this decision in the High Court. We believe that the problems experienced by my mum were systemic withing the hospital where she died, and senior staff confirmed that disciplinaries were rising and the training of staff was poor.

We now want justice for what happened to my mother - Justice for Sandra, and justice for all vulnerable patients within the mental health system.

Please sign up to receive updates in respect of my mum's campaign. Put your email into the 'subscribe' box on the right-hand side of the page to receive all future updates.

I intend to keep this blog updated for everyone interested in my mum's case. We cannot allow the failings within the mental health sector to continue and we will fight until we get the justice that my mum - and all mental health patients - deserve.

Mental health patients should no longer be stigmatised - support our campaign for justice.