Danny Dorling Abstract In this 15minute talk Danny will put forward the case that without great economic equality than the UK current enjoys we cannot expect people to trust each other rights to be upheld maintained or respected or for fairness to be preserved There is an ID: 1038138
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1. Decent rights, trust, and fairness all require greater economic equality Danny DorlingAbstract: In this 15-minute talk Danny will put forward the case that without great economic equality than the UK current enjoys we cannot expect people to trust each other; rights to be upheld, maintained or respected; or for fairness to be preserved. There is an unegalitarian fantasy that it is possible to continue with great economic inequalities but somehow for people to know their place and behave well in it. That fantasy has, unfortunately, become current government policy. The talk will end discussing who should be held to account when official policies result in mortality rates rising, within mental health institutions most recently, prisons generally, and society more widely.
2. These graphs were first drawn ten years ago – ‘The Spirit Level’
3. In the UK the situation worsened‘In 2016, the likelihood of self-inflicted death of offenders in custody was 8.6 times greater than the likelihood of suicide in the general population… It is lamentable that the UK's prison system should have been allowed to decline to its current unsatisfactory levels, bringing with it a rise in depression and suicide as prisoners find themselves part of a system that puts containment above reform'. Recent Editorial comment – the Lancet (10/3/2018)
4. ‘As with so much of the discussion around public services in the UK, the sense that a tipping point will soon be reached is tangible. The UK's prison system has shed 30% of staff since austerity began in 2010. The average amount spent on suicide investigations in UK prisons has more than halved since 2012–13. Until conditions are improved, guidelines like these are a firefighting effort in a situation where the fires themselves may be preventable.’http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2818%2930554-3/fulltext
5. Almost two years ago in 2016:85,000 in prison, 46,000 in 1985Earlier this week (September 2016) the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Nigel Newcomen, reported that prison violence was now at a 'wholly unacceptable level’. [but we accepted it!]Six prisoners were killed in the 2015-16 year, he observed. This is up from four last year and is the highest number since records began in 2000.'Buildings are crumbling, infested with rats and cockroaches', The Economist notes this week. 'In the year to June 2015,' it points out, '105 prisoners killed themselves, compared with 59 in 2010'.Richard Garside 23 September 2016 https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/five-prisoners-day
6. Then by May 2017 we read this, but we are beginning to become immune:Deaths in state detention (excluding Deprivation of Liberty orders) increased by 19%, to 574 deaths being reported to coroners in 2016, with the largest increase seen in deaths while detained under the Mental Health Act (252 in 2016, up 34%) and deaths in prison custody (298, up 14%). https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2016
7. Table 1.1.1: Deaths in State Detention, England and Wales, 2011-2016Source: Social Care Institute of Excellence, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) at a glance, June 2017, Table 6 (deaths reported to coroners).National Statistics, Coroners statistics Annual 2016, England and Wales, 11 May 2017, statistical tables Table 6 (deaths reported to coroners). https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coroners-statistics-2016
8. Who gets to see this data early?The following post holders are given pre-release access up to 24 hours before release.Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for JusticePrincipal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for JusticeDeputy Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for JusticeAssistant Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for JusticeParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Youth Justice, Victims, Female Offenders and Offender HealthPrivate Secretary to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Youth Justice, Victims, Female Offenders and Offender HealthAssistant Private Secretary to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Youth Justice, Victims, Female Offenders and Offender HealthPermanent SecretaryPrivate Secretary to Permanent SecretaryMinister for Prisons and ProbationPrivate Secretary to Minister for Prisons and ProbationChief CoronerHead of the Chief Coroner’s OfficeAssistant Private Secretary in Chief Coroner’s OfficeDirector General for Finance and Corporate ServiceDirector of Analytical ServicesChief Statistician and Head of Justice Statistics Analytical ServicesHead of News (in the ministry)Senior Press Officers (in the ministry)Deputy Director, Civil Law and Justice, Administrative Justice, Coroners, Burials, Cremation and inquiriesJoint Heads of Coroners, Burials, Cremations and InquiriesSenior Policy Advisers in Coroners, Burials, Cremations and Inquiries Policy TeamSenior policy managers in the Coroners, Burials, Cremations and Inquiries Policy TeamPolicy Managers in Coroners, Burials, Cremations and Inquiries Policy TeamLawyer for Coroners PolicyARE THESE PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE?
9. Is the rise really as big as this?"Reporting deaths to the coroner It is a legal requirement under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 for a coroner to investigate any death of a detained patient. This is the only current mechanism to meet the state’s duty to ensure independent investigation of the circumstances of a death in its custody. In our 2015/16 report, we noted two deaths reported in that period where the coroner had not been informed, and reminded providers of the necessity to do this is all cases, even where the death appears to be from natural causes."However this has hardly been happening until recently!
10. So you look a little furtherYear Total number of deaths (natural/unnatural/undetermined) actually reported to coroner:Year Actual deaths To the coroner %2011/12 236 (191/36/9) 83 35%2012/13 275 (200/48/27) 93 34%2013/14 198 (126/36/36) 97 49%2014/15 227 (182/34/11) 100 44%2015/16 266 (201/46/19) 188 71%2016/17 247 (186/54/7) 252 103%The actual deaths are given in the annual Monitoring the Mental Health Act reports: http://www.cqc.org.uk/publications/major-report/monitoring-mental-health-act-report#old-reportsfinancial year numbers, whereas the coroner gives calendar year numbers causing supposedly more reported than occurred in the most recent year (where the report figures suggest 99%).
11. A 50% rise 2013/14 to 2016/17 in unnatural causes (+18), 25% rise overall in that period.http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20180227_mhareport_web.pdfBy 2016/2017 44,007 people were detained under the mental health actSome 22,716 men and 21,291 women, and 1,857 people no gender recorded.
12. Connor was 18 when he drowned in a bath in Oxford in July 2013 – he had an epileptic seizure at Slade House ‘learning disability unit, run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust’The Tale of Laughing Boyhttps://vimeo.com/130521001On top of those who die in prison, or detained under the mental health act are many others in care but not being properly cared for.And then you stop looking at so many numbers and consider just one death.Very near here.
13. Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust is "one of the largest mental health and learning disability trusts in England". Only 64% of staff recommended their unit as a place to receive care, and only 53% as a place to work and is known for its poor level of performance ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Health_NHS_Foundation_Trust ). The learning disability services in Oxfordshire are to be transferred to Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. Connor was not sectioned, and it may well be that that unit had no people detained under mental health sections.
14. What his case reveals is how poorly functioning units almost always try to obstruct the involvement of relatives and other 'outsiders' in treatment and management plans. It is normal practice in prisons to exclude input from relatives and friends.Even the best mental health units are rated relatively poorly by their own staff, with under 75% recommending them either as a place for treatment or as a place to work:https://www.hsj.co.uk/Uploads/2015/07/28/z/p/o/HSJ-Best-Places-to-Work-2015.pdfTwice as many people die, per 1000, as detained patients than in prison in the UK, and the number dying in prisons has risen greatly. The overall situation is worsening.
15. A CBBC documentary "Missing Dad" January 2018, said 250,000 children currently had a parent in prison, making about 93% a dad, 7% a mum.http://kidsmatter.org.uk/missing-dad-cbbc-documentary-reveals-heartache-children-imprisoned-parents/This documentary says: One in seven children have a parent in prison at some point but nobody talks about it. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/dad-really-good-relationship-went-11758622In 2017: Prisons using 'cruel' punishment that restricts inmates from seeing children. Hundreds of children have contact with fathers reduced to just two hours a monthhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/prisoners-children-time-restriction-jails-england-wales-a7907286.html
16. Briefing Paper: The Impact of Maternal Imprisonment upon a Child's Wellbeing and Their Relationship with Their Mother: Findings from 'Who Cares? Analysing the Place of Children in Maternal Sentencing Decisions in England and Wales’, Shona Minson (2017), University of Oxfordhttps://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3067653'We’ve been trying to reform the prison for 200 years. It’s failed. It’s time for us to think about doing something different'.David Scott, making the case for prison abolition in this Novara Media podcast.http://novaramedia.com/2018/01/10/prisons-abolition-or-reform/The research caries, on the commentators comment:
17. So who should be held to account?On health:, "health chiefs”, a catch all term for anyone or any group or organization charged with maximizing the health and well being of their population: Department of Health and Social Care.+ 4 Chief Medical Officers of the United KingdomAnyone whose job title is, for example ‘chief knowledge officer’ in an organization.In the NHS they may have a ‘chief executive', a ‘chief nurse’ and so on.
18. So, why worry about economic inequality? Why not just hold to account?Because the same pattern is seen again and again: education (other peoples’ children are not like yours), housing (blame the homeless), work (increasingly doesn’t pay).A society that has learnt to tolerate some people being worth so much more than others (income inequality) will then tolerate many other injustices rising. Until peak inequality is reached (maybe now).