On a personal note, and as a matter of
great sadness, we heard last week that, after living courageously
with a grave illness, Raymond Brookes Collins for so long the
reasoned supportive and acutely insightful voice of carers, had
died. It was a privilege to have presented him with a
President's medal at the International Congress in Liverpool this
summer. He was much respected across the whole service user
and carer networks, and well beyond mental health. I
will miss his words of wisdom.
A week in politics: I was sat in a meeting with
senior Department of Health civil servants as their
phones buzzed with the texts about who would be turning up to work
to serve the next day.
I am sure that I am not the only one to be sorry to see that Paul
Burstow has gone. The compensation is that Norman Lamb, the new
Minister of State, is a long-standing friend of mental health
and the College, and his responsibilities will include mental
health, thus elevating its status.
Well I await with interest to see if the Academy of Medical Royal
Colleges will be still having a dinner with the Secretary
State for Health next Monday. I am currently getting to grips with
my role as Vice-Chair of the Academy and I am looking
forwards to leading on the quality agenda where, within the
college, there is a great deal of positive activity.
On Wednesday, I took a break in the afternoon as I was
lucky enough to have bought tickets for the Paraolympics. The whole
experience was brilliant and the athletes
inspirational.
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