How is the person who is home alone supported when they don’t get a response when they ask for help? It’s unfair to say there was no response there was. It just wasn’t a response that arguably supported need.
I think of how and the limitations of intervention verses the intensity of need. Arguments of what is social and what is Nursing are blurred by the reason for the need, the person still left feeling like they are on their own. Me caught up with my own life and responsibilities.
In this place of wanting to help but not helping because if I do I know that expectations will be greater and where that took me last time (down the rabbit whole of getting no where to my own demise). Systems that don’t change just send me on the round and round wild goose chase without any recognition of need. Where do we go with that? I want those involved in this violence to know that systems aren’t responding to actual need. Expectations over transport, expectations over care provision, patriarchal expectations over who will provide 24hr care, each impacting health, each ablest in nature.
For all the rhetoric of person centred care, concern for “what matters to you”, stated awareness over the social determinants of health here we are. Where has that gone when the person has no one to help them?
I’m waiting to learn about a job I applied for. I was asked to present 5mins on an issue. Research from that lead me to uncovering further systemic harm, the discourse met with silence and denial. I’m used to not being believed so I provided photos snap shots from conferences, personal photos. It wasn’t enough to get a response beyond silence and denial as I walked the tightrope of personal and professional. I think about people I met who had been repeatedly harmed and it resonates on a level. Was I too confrontational I asked, trying to reflect on the experience, do better next time, mindful of how you balance this with the duty of candor. Did you manage expectations at the outset, I was asked. Yep, I certainly tried to. I gave them a heads up that this would be heavy, perhaps hard to hear, took along some photos to add to the presentation to try to lighten the mood. Did it make a jot of difference? Sadly not.
I’m not sure if it resonated on a personal level. It didn’t seem to. Where was the sense of agency? Where was the spirit of this is horrific we need to make changes, we need to acknowledge where the harm is coming from rather than cling on to what was described as their bible and call it out louder, get changes made, pushing it to those responsible, challenging the department of health, recognising the harm, joining, collaborating, working together, pushing it to those who will rewrite the policies of harm?
I want to complain about the latest saga but there is fear of reprisal. The second time this week that I’ve heard those words. A feeling I have now that makes me hesitate to publish this today, until I’ve heard how it went with that job interview, not wanting to prejudice my acceptance, though of course what’s done is done. A communication failure. How can I be clearer? A noted backlash that is made extra hard to challenge, that just embeds harm.
“Accommodation conditions were not meeting
basic human standards, which contributed to
poor health. This included poor food, access
to basic sanitary products, inability to store
medication or have professionals visit to
provide care.
• People reported a significant mental health
impact of the loneliness, isolation and
feelings of being imprisoned engendered by
the conditions.
• Service users presented with a broad range of
health needs, many people required intensive
support to access and navigate the system
which often took weeks or months of delays in
access to care.
• People were unable to get prescriptions,
medical care for pregnancy and children,
referrals to specialists and ongoing support
for medical conditions both chronic and acute.
People did not know how to get and pay for
medication they were prescribed and some
could not access medication needed to control
serious conditions.
• Most people had no access to information
on how to meet their basic health needs
and no formal sources of support from the
healthcare system.
• Service users were forced to rely on hotel
staff to answer their medical questions and
access support, the staff were often unhelpful
and reluctant to offer help around medical
needs. Staff were also poorly informed about
residents’ entitlements to healthcare.
• People struggled to get access to dentists and
opticians and again didn’t have support to pay
for these fees.
• Lack of access to timely and continuous care
meant people were left without treatment and
were left to suffer on their own.
• The evidence in this report shows that initial/
contingency accommodation is unsafe for
asylum seekers due to the lack of access to
adequate and appropriate healthcare services
and the nature and conditions, which risk
directly harming service users’ health.
Recommendations
In order to not cause harm to people’s health and meet
their essential health needs:
• Asylum seekers should be accommodated in a
humane way that enables meaningful access
to full NHS care to meet health needs and
provide continuity of care. Conditions should
not risk harm to physical and mental health.
• The Home Office should introduce a centrally
funded system that houses asylum seekers in
safe and sanitary housing in communities across
the country where they can access decent food
and toiletries and that enables access to local
GP and specialist health services.
• Home Office contracts with accommodation
providers should be amended to include
provision of direct support for GP registration
for everyone in Home Office accommodation
and to access all NHS services and provision
of health information and support to complete
HC1 forms as key performance indicators.
• All asylum seekers receiving Home Office
support should automatically receive a HC2
certificate for 12 months”
Although this was a report talking about asylum seekers I wonder about the similarities with people who are also living on the margins.
“…access to adequate and appropriate healthcare
services and that poor living conditions exacerbate or
generate mental and potentially physical health problems”. and all the while the sound of running water is keeping her awake and she has to repeat the procedure that was made inaccessible before
As I reflect on agency, I feel that lack of agency when you’ve called things out and don’t seem to get anywhere and fall into silence because it doesn’t get you anywhere only just more of the same.
Anyway, I’ve applied for another job, and enquired after another. Perhaps what is meant for me will find me, or some such saying