Category Archives: The NHS
Insensitive fancy dress might not be the worst problem we face
You may have heard of the small PR disaster experienced by Asda and Tesco (and to a lesser extent Amazon and Ebay) recently, when it emerged that they were selling Hallowe’en* costumes which purported to represent a ‘mental patient’ and … Continue reading
TV review: Don’t Call Me Crazy
Don’t Call Me Crazy is a documentary series on BBC3. You can watch all the episodes on the iPlayer until next Monday night – 15th July 2013 – if you’re in the UK. At the time of writing I’ve seen … Continue reading
Face-down restraint in mental hospitals: Mind are to be congratulated
I’ve been quick, in the past, to criticise the mental health charity Mind when they have done things of which I disapprove. Simple justice demands I should be as quick to applaud when they do something of which I approve. … Continue reading
The Mind awards aren’t just annoying and self-congratulatory. They’re actively harmful.
Warning: this post is angrier and swearier than most of my posts. If you’re bothered by that, don’t read any further. If you do read further and come across something you don’t like, don’t come whingeing to me about it. … Continue reading
The private sector is always going to be more expensive
So, you may be aware of David Cameron’s latest wheeze, which is being described as privatising the roads. I’m not sure that’s an accurate description, and, frankly, neither is anyone else – not as the result of any failure of … Continue reading
NHS changes: my twopenn’orth
Sorry, this is going to be a hugely long post. If you’re one of those people who subscribes to the view that anything that can’t be said in fewer than 1,000 words isn’t worth saying then you’re going to hate … Continue reading
Why not go for ‘fatso’ instead?
Anne Milton, MP, who is minister for public health in the coalition government, spoke to the BBC on the subject of overweight people: GPs and other health professionals should tell people they are fat rather than obese, England’s public health … Continue reading
Tv review: Sectioned
I finally got round to watching this programme on the iPlayer. It went out on TV last Wednesday, and so is only available to watch there for another few hours. As always, I’m reviewing this from memory – I didn’t … Continue reading
TV Review: Why Did You Kill My Dad?
Thanks are due to the ever-excellent Fighting Monsters, who tipped me off to watch this programme, which I’d somehow managed to miss in the listings. Thanks, as well, to the equally-excellent Pretty Like Drugs and Abysmal Musings, whose reviews I’ve … Continue reading
Aethelread the Unread 
This is how some of the major mental health charities work against the interests of mentally ill people
Today, there was a conference on mental illness. It was addressed by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg. The text of his speech is here. Since he was speaking about mental health in public, he inevitably aired a number of … Continue reading →