Tracey Crouch MP
In conversation with Tracey Crouch MP for Chatham and Aylesford.
by Tony Randall
In the first of a two part interview Tracey talks to me about a subject that effects myself and people of all ages and walks of life, Mental Illness, Is it still a taboo subject? And why don't MPs admit to having this illness? Tracey openly expresses her views on the proposed social care reforms and being Vice Chairman of the All Party Group For Dementia.
10am was my appointment time with Tracey in the restaurant of the local supermarket, and always the professional Tracey arrived on time and before anything that much needed strong cup of coffee was ordered to start another long day.
I start by letting Tracey know about my history of depression and how it has effected me through out my life, ways i have tried to self harm and planned to end my life only for it to fail due to circumstances. A very concerned Tracey talks to me about the help I'm getting and her views on this issue.
TC: It's very hard to get sectioned, and people really do need to be refereed and be given that immediate residential help if needed. A lot of residential help now is incredibly intensive to give you the 24hr support. One of the main problems is Mental Health today is still a taboo, and that is demonstrated by some of the legislation that is in place, for example if i had mental health, as an MP I'm not allowed to serve as a member of parliament, so what does that say we think of people with mental health issues can and can't do? In the past where MPs have attempted suicide it's never been recorded in the newspapers and formally and official, What it's been said is they have slipped or become UN well.
TR: For me that's a shame an MP can not feel they can openly admit they have a mental illness, you are public figures and it would surley raise awareness of it more?
TC: The Government is trying to scrap a particular part of the mental health act for members of parliament for that exact reason you explained. Given the fact we know 1 in 4 people suffer from depression, there are 650 MPs in parliament, so that's around 150-200 MPs who will have a mental health illness. it's a very levelling illness and can effect anybody in that respect and parliament is a very stressful environment and it would not surprise me if there are colleagues who suffer from deep depression, who deal with their illness through alcohol miss use or may be drug miss use, so it's very important we address these issues.
TR: I take a lot of co-codamol and alcohol with it, i know it's harming me, but it's like my comfort blanket.
TC: I understand, I sit on the All Party Group for alcohol miss use and it's quite clear a lot of people go home and have a drink, and they say it's because they want to relax and calm down, in fact instead of using it a way to have a drink and be sociable with friends, alcohol is used in a way of dulling what ever pain they have gone through in that day. I recently spoke on @BBCRADIOKENT on the miss use of co-codamol, there is a lot of codeine based addictions and it's increasing.
TR: Co-codamol is so easy to buy, i will go round various pharmacies and buy them on a regular basis.
TC: There is no regulation on the amount you can purchase, It's not like with paracetamol the pharmacist is not allowed to sell more to one person than is allowed by the government guidelines, that's not the same for codeine based drugs.
TR: You are vice-chairman of the All Party Group for Dementia and recently attended " Time For A Cuppa" in the House of Commons which was to raise awareness for the illness. Do you think people who suffer from dementia as with mental health get enough care?
TC: With dementia it's primarily older people who suffer from it, so the services are very much more targeted. The care for people with dementia is slightly patchy, diagnoses rates across Kent are quite low compared to the national average, but the treatments of dementia is sometimes moved towards anti psychotics to control aggression and behaviour rather than talking therapies or animal and music therapies which actually show better out comes than anti psychotics. It does depend on what part of Kent you live in to what treatment you will receive.
TR: It's obviously very stressful for people who are suffering from the conditions we have been talking about, but also for the people who care for them. Is there enough support in the NHS for the carers?
TC: NO!!! not at all, and that's across the board no matter what condition you are caring for, particularly the related carers do not get enough support, the government are trying to help change that by investing more in carer services or rest bites so people can actually go away and get a well deserved break for a while. Dementia is particularly challenging as it's an illness that is 24/7 and unpredictable. It must be so difficult when you have been with your partner for so long and all of a sudden all of their facilities have gone.
So the care system needs to be vastly improved, there are some excellent caring groups out there and they are all voluntary groups who are run by cares for carers and it;s a fantastic way to form that support network.
TR: With me going through depression/mental health i do get fantastic support from the NHS and care partnerships, but often i see they are under staffed, stretched to the limits at times and poorly paid, i often have appointments cancelled due to lack of staff. With this in mind what are your views on the proposed reforms to the NHS?
TC: It's clear the social care system at the moment is not good enough, it needs radical reform, part of that reform should come in better investment and there will be i think in the future changes in the way social care is funded, especially for older people. Currently the state can no longer take on the huge burden of ageing people, i think people in the future will be asked to fund more of their social care. But there is the whole point around the funding of care now, the immediate funding and weather or not the training is right for those who work in hospitals to provide care and the quality of carers is top class, so it' s all about investment. I went to a care conference last week and i was generally shocked that some places only pay the minimum wage for people who are looking after incredibly vulnerable people in our society, I would have thought we should pay a higher wage than the minimum wage for this kind of care.
by Tony Randall
In the first of a two part interview Tracey talks to me about a subject that effects myself and people of all ages and walks of life, Mental Illness, Is it still a taboo subject? And why don't MPs admit to having this illness? Tracey openly expresses her views on the proposed social care reforms and being Vice Chairman of the All Party Group For Dementia.
I start by letting Tracey know about my history of depression and how it has effected me through out my life, ways i have tried to self harm and planned to end my life only for it to fail due to circumstances. A very concerned Tracey talks to me about the help I'm getting and her views on this issue.
TC: It's very hard to get sectioned, and people really do need to be refereed and be given that immediate residential help if needed. A lot of residential help now is incredibly intensive to give you the 24hr support. One of the main problems is Mental Health today is still a taboo, and that is demonstrated by some of the legislation that is in place, for example if i had mental health, as an MP I'm not allowed to serve as a member of parliament, so what does that say we think of people with mental health issues can and can't do? In the past where MPs have attempted suicide it's never been recorded in the newspapers and formally and official, What it's been said is they have slipped or become UN well.
TR: For me that's a shame an MP can not feel they can openly admit they have a mental illness, you are public figures and it would surley raise awareness of it more?
TC: The Government is trying to scrap a particular part of the mental health act for members of parliament for that exact reason you explained. Given the fact we know 1 in 4 people suffer from depression, there are 650 MPs in parliament, so that's around 150-200 MPs who will have a mental health illness. it's a very levelling illness and can effect anybody in that respect and parliament is a very stressful environment and it would not surprise me if there are colleagues who suffer from deep depression, who deal with their illness through alcohol miss use or may be drug miss use, so it's very important we address these issues.
TR: I take a lot of co-codamol and alcohol with it, i know it's harming me, but it's like my comfort blanket.
TC: I understand, I sit on the All Party Group for alcohol miss use and it's quite clear a lot of people go home and have a drink, and they say it's because they want to relax and calm down, in fact instead of using it a way to have a drink and be sociable with friends, alcohol is used in a way of dulling what ever pain they have gone through in that day. I recently spoke on @BBCRADIOKENT on the miss use of co-codamol, there is a lot of codeine based addictions and it's increasing.
TR: Co-codamol is so easy to buy, i will go round various pharmacies and buy them on a regular basis.
TC: There is no regulation on the amount you can purchase, It's not like with paracetamol the pharmacist is not allowed to sell more to one person than is allowed by the government guidelines, that's not the same for codeine based drugs.
TR: You are vice-chairman of the All Party Group for Dementia and recently attended " Time For A Cuppa" in the House of Commons which was to raise awareness for the illness. Do you think people who suffer from dementia as with mental health get enough care?
TC: With dementia it's primarily older people who suffer from it, so the services are very much more targeted. The care for people with dementia is slightly patchy, diagnoses rates across Kent are quite low compared to the national average, but the treatments of dementia is sometimes moved towards anti psychotics to control aggression and behaviour rather than talking therapies or animal and music therapies which actually show better out comes than anti psychotics. It does depend on what part of Kent you live in to what treatment you will receive.
TR: It's obviously very stressful for people who are suffering from the conditions we have been talking about, but also for the people who care for them. Is there enough support in the NHS for the carers?
TC: NO!!! not at all, and that's across the board no matter what condition you are caring for, particularly the related carers do not get enough support, the government are trying to help change that by investing more in carer services or rest bites so people can actually go away and get a well deserved break for a while. Dementia is particularly challenging as it's an illness that is 24/7 and unpredictable. It must be so difficult when you have been with your partner for so long and all of a sudden all of their facilities have gone.
So the care system needs to be vastly improved, there are some excellent caring groups out there and they are all voluntary groups who are run by cares for carers and it;s a fantastic way to form that support network.
TR: With me going through depression/mental health i do get fantastic support from the NHS and care partnerships, but often i see they are under staffed, stretched to the limits at times and poorly paid, i often have appointments cancelled due to lack of staff. With this in mind what are your views on the proposed reforms to the NHS?
TC: It's clear the social care system at the moment is not good enough, it needs radical reform, part of that reform should come in better investment and there will be i think in the future changes in the way social care is funded, especially for older people. Currently the state can no longer take on the huge burden of ageing people, i think people in the future will be asked to fund more of their social care. But there is the whole point around the funding of care now, the immediate funding and weather or not the training is right for those who work in hospitals to provide care and the quality of carers is top class, so it' s all about investment. I went to a care conference last week and i was generally shocked that some places only pay the minimum wage for people who are looking after incredibly vulnerable people in our society, I would have thought we should pay a higher wage than the minimum wage for this kind of care.
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