Care rooms initiative

I don’t agree with the concerns raised about the Care Rooms

initiative – pioneered by Dr Harry Thirkettle, and which was due to be implemented in Essex.

Berkshire would benefit from such a scheme – and it could be extended to mental health patients – as well as to those recovering from surgery.

Prospect Park, now our only Berkshire Mental Hospital, is always short of beds, and is always reported to be understaffed. Yet there must be patients who no longer need 24-hour medical attention, but are not sufficiently recovered to cope, alone, in the community.

A Care Room – with a bit of support, and meals provided – would meet their needs admirably - until they achieve full recovery – and would free up acute mental health beds for those who need this. I frequently advocate long-term Adult Fostering. This would be the, equally valuable, short-term Adult Fostering. Furthermore, patients frequently complain that Prospect Park’s staff don’t speak English.

Most ordinary Berkshire residents who could provide Care Rooms, would be able to speak intelligible English!

The idea is not so different from that adopted by the crisis house – except that our beds were in a building owned by the local community – La Maison Pour Tous – as the French would have it – rather than in private dwellings.

Quite often, Consultants would refer patients to us – and they would stay for a few weeks – while they got used to normal life again, and sorted out permanent future living arrangements.

Such schemes work very well, but only if the power remains firmly in the hands of the providers of the service, and not in those of the referrers.

We only ever accepted patients for whom we could provide the appropriate level of support, and firmly resisted ever becoming a dumping ground.

As a result, we had a very good success rate – as the Care Rooms scheme would – if thus run with proper safeguards. I think that it should be tried. Pam Jenkinson, The Wokingham Crisis House, Station Road