I had the privilege of being an appointed panel member for the two years of this work. For me commenting on the actual report of the Confidential Forum is inappropriate. This is a report that speaks for itself, and has involved many participants for whom trust of the process and confidentiality was paramount. I would rather honour the people who came by not adding personal comment other than to say, I regarded the work as sacred and that the role of being one the panel members is beyond putting words to. For me all I can say is, I was honoured to be part of such an amazing journey within people’s lives, if only for a brief moment in time.

This document is a sobering read. It can be looked at in many ways: as a document of an earlier history in mental health, an important landmark in redress processes that was new and innovative, or as a legacy for us to learn from.

Let us consider the legacy to learn from, the gift of this report.

The challenge with our current system is to constantly reflect against the practices of what we would called “the old institutional days”. Institutions were always more than bricks and mortar, and their closure did not result in better mental health delivery, though few would debate improvements were made.

We need to carefully inspect current treatment practices that are still present, and acted upon, in our services from a by gone age. Seclusion and restraint are the most pertinent in the acute setting, alongside the use of control in treatment practice by use of the Mental Health Act and Community Treatment Orders, and the giving of ECT without the individual’s consent.

In the post 1992 Mental Health Act world we really need to ask about our current advocacy systems. How effective are the District Inspectors? How good are our disability advocates and what gains is peer advocacy making? These are fundamental questions if we are to make sure the experiences detailed in the Forum report, are not part of the lived experience of today’s service users.

I accept that many of you reading this will know the system is far from delivering services that facilitate people’s right to lead their own recovery. The legacy of this work must be in what we can collectively do to make sure such events as are accounted for in this document, never happen again.

The beauty of the human spirit is constant. Resilience, courage and the capacity to re-create and rise are some of the words that come to mind when I think of the Forum process. This document must have effect in changing mental health services. That will be it’s legacy.

I wish you all well in that future,
Anne Helm
Former panel member
Confidential Forum for Former Psychiatric Inpatients

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