Letter

Carry on tweaking

Dear healthmatters — I must say how very gratifying it is to see such a bold new publication as yours, especially one — judged by the cover of the first issue — so capable of tweaking noses at the highest level.

Your editorial, and your article on community health councils, correctly exposed the hollow side to the government’s espousal of the principle of ‘consumerism’.

In the area of mental health the effects of the medical model of treatment have all to often served to divest people of the power and the choice necessary to act as effective consumers. Rather than extending the glossy facade of consumer-satisfaction for those who are already equipped with the necessary ‘ purchasing power’, we need to address the balance in favour of those people whose voice has frequently been ignored or denied by our system of service provision.

The key to a sincere process of accountability is surely to be found in promoting and researching the means through which disadvantaged consumers can be empowered to speak for themselves, and have the support of an independent system of advocacy on their behalf as appropriate.

Certainly, as your CHC article pointed out, authorities may argue that demands for improved services make this process of quality assurance an expensive exercise. But since much that concerns consumers of mental health services relates to the balance of power between themselves and professionals, purported lack of money would be a poor excuse for not taking the issue seriously. I am confident that healthmatters will be supporting this important concern.