Last night I met the biggest example of a failure I think I have ever met.
Gary is 34. I have known him for a few years but with the sporadic contact I have with him in my role as a manager, I have never really understood why he is so hell-bent on self-destruction, or why he doesn’t ever appear to make any positive steps forward.
I do now.
Last night at the soup run, (which for any of you who haven’t heard me say this recently, is not about the soup!), Gary was desperate to talk. He was close to tears as we sat down on a wooden bench and he told me he had reached the end of his tether. Here’s why; according to Gary.
Until 2 weeks ago, he was in rehab for his alcohol addiction and was doing quite well. He was in the middle of his programme of care and was asked to write an affirmation of his experience so far. He was encouraged by staff to be honest and also told that if he wanted to share some of his drivers and motivators for his drinking with the group, then he could do that too.
Gary told the group of a generally positive experience, but said that he felt that there were one or two of the staff in the unit that could be hostile towards clients and were less supportive than the main team. He didn’t get to the part about the motivators and drivers for his drinking, because he was asked to pack his stuff and leave because he displayed a “bad attitude towards staff”.
Gary had 2 weeks left to run on his Probation Order and was mature enough to realise that he needed some continuing support to get back on his feet again. He has a flat but no means of support to cope with it. He called his Probation Officer and asked how he could get his order extended so that the support could remain in place. He was told that he couldn’t, that’s not how it works, and that the only way that would happen was if he didn’t comply within the remaining 2 weeks of the order, and breached the conditions of it (I don’t know if the subtext of this was intended or accidental!). Gary duly breached the conditions and will be in court on Thursday for being “bad” and as he has complied most of the way through the order, he will undoubtedly be discharged form court with no further intervention deemed appropriate. The irony!
Gary is really struggling to cope with the contents of his affirmation where he had written down the reasons for his self-destructive behaviour, because he never got to share it out loud as he expected. His story is one we have heard many times before: major childhood trauma when his parents were killed in a road accident, no family to take on Gary and his brother so they were put into care and separated. A less-than-satisfactory experience of the care system, but Gary coped. His brother did not, and aged 17 Gary had to cut his body down when he found it hanging.
Right now, Gary is dealing with the contents of his head that he has nowhere to put by burning his own skin with a cigarette lighter. He has visible burns which he showed me last night running the length of his calves. He has one which looks badly infected, about the size of his fist. He sought medical attention from A and E last week and they asked if he had a dressing at home, and then told him to take care of it himself; it was a self-inflicted wound.
Gary has a flat. When he had his last epileptic fit in the bathroom, 6 months ago, he fell into the sink and it came away from the wall, hitting the toilet and cracking it. He has asked for this to be repaired but still nothing has been done. The toilet doesn’t work now and he has to urinate in his shower, and ask his neighbour if he can use his bathroom for everything else.
Finally, at the end of last week, Gary rang his Probation Officer with a noose in his hand and told them he was going to commit suicide. A desperate cry for help. His Probation Officer followed procedure to the letter and called the police. The police responded by following procedure too. They went round to Gary’s flat, kicked the door down to gain entry (so he now has no door either…how long to get that fixed?!), handcuffed him and put him in a cell for a few hours, before letting him go. Gary was no more supported and was feeling no better than he was that morning when he tied his noose.
The last time I checked, we proudly called ourselves a civilised, developed Western society. We talk about “humanity” and “human-rights” and “dignity. Where are Gary’s and who decided that he doesn’t have a right to those things like the rest of us? Where is the line that separates the deserving from the undeserving and will somebody please explain it to me and to Gary?
Gary is the most devastating example of systematic failure I have seen in years. He has been failed by the care system, by the Justice system, by the state, by the NHS, by mental health services, by alcohol support services, by local housing providers and by the criminal justice system.
I have two questions, Mr Cameron. How did our civilised, developed Western society get this so wrong, and what are we going to do about it?
Charities should not be picking up the work that the Government has commissioned services to deliver, yet that is exactly what Simon On The Streets finds itself doing time and time and time again. A target led culture in support services is isolating the very people it is set up to support and it has to stop.
Our Government and its penchant for awarding contracts to the lowest bidder regardless of the quality of service delivery is accountable for this systemic failure, and the saddest thing of all is that I suspect that Gary is just the tip of the iceberg…