‘I compiled a report detailing the poor clinical practices but after I handed this in, my working relationship with the management at Yarl’s Wood deteriorated massively. I felt I was being marginalised and bullied by senior staff. It would have been easier to keep quiet about what I was experiencing but I knew I couldn’t do that and so I also raised a grievance about the bullying’ Noel Finn
This week’s report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) into Yarl’s Wood detention centre raised many issues about healthcare, systems failures, and a disbelief of detainees’ stories which are only too familiar to me.
I worked at Yarl’s Wood between 2012 to 2013 as a mental health nurse. Almost immediately after arriving I had concerns about the mental health of the residents and when I first raised these with management they appeared to acknowledge my worries. But things didn’t improve. I was the only dedicated mental health professional for over 400 potential patients. The other nurses (including other mental health nurses) were focused on physical care and had more of an administration role – checking residents were fit for deportation.
Many of the issues I noticed at Yarl’s Wood were similar to those I had seen at other locked institutions, however I had never seen the same level of sexual undercurrent in the way officers interacted with residents as I did there.
Click on the link to read more
http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2015/08/13/yarls-wood-the-whistleblowers-story
Filed under: Mental Health, mental health, whistleblower
