An opinion piece by Rogan Wolf has been published in the February edition of "Open Mind," a bi-monthly periodical produced by "MIND," the national charity.

The full version of the piece can be read here.

It expresses Rogan's concern that top-down directives requiring managers to consult with the users of their services, have led to practice which can put people's mental health at risk.

The piece calls for a national code of conduct for consulting with users of mental health services, to ensure an adequate level of care and skill is deployed in process and methodology.

Rogan believes that this code is as at least as necessary as the code of conduct for ward rounds and similar meetings featured elsewhere on this site. The ward round code has been made policy in more than one NHS Trust and is commended by the Department of Health.

The piece is the latest step in a long campaign Rogan has pursued. Some of the story of that campaign is told here.

He has written a second piece expressing more general concerns about present developments in mental health policy and practice. He fears these these developments, though useful for some, are driven by a simplistic consumerist ideology and constitute a real threat to the support systems which people with severe and enduring mental health problems need to cope adequately in the community. The piece is called "Where's the Heart in Community Care ?"and can be found here.

The Hyphen-21 Trustees have agreed that the campaign, and the general position taken in these pieces, fall within the remit of the charity's principles, but Rogan takes full personal responsibility for the articles' contents.