a thinking space

There’s a growing recognition of the crisis in mental health services brought about by underfunding, and the impact of this on children, adults and families across the UK. But what has been the impact on the people delivering those services - psychologically, physically, and financially? In the era of austerity, how can we position ourselves to talk and think about our experiences of mental health and organise ourselves to improve the conditions of people working in the sector? This event is a conversation with Clare Gerada and Elizabeth Cotton about money, jobs and working life of people working in mental health services. Clare will talk about her experience of campaigning and working with professional bodies to protect mental health services and her work at the Practitioner Health Programme. Elizabeth will talk about her experience of working with unions, activists and health and social care workers on the frontline of mental health services through www.survivingwork.org  Clare and Elizabeth will also introduce the Surviving Work Survey - an initiative to map jobs and wages in mental health. You can access the anonymous survey at www.survivingwork.org/surviving-work-survey  Book here25 February 2016, 6:30pm to 8:30pmTavistock Centre, LondonFee £15 (£10 concessions ‐ students, unwaged, Trust staff) Clare Gerada is a London-based GP and was Chair of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners for three years from November 2010, during the debates about NHS reform. She is the Medical Director of the NHS Practitioner Health Programme which provides confidential medical advice for doctors and dentists. Clare resigned as Chair of the Clinical Board of the NHS's Primary Care Transformation in the London Region as she could not speak out against the Conservatives' 'desperate quest for privatisation'. Elizabeth Cotton is a writer and educator in the field of mental health at work. She is an academic at Middlesex University and Birkbeck Department of Management, a member of ISPSO and OPUS. She writes a blog as Surviving Work and runs The Surviving Work Library. Elizabeth worked as an organiser and educator for the Miners' International and has worked with activists from 35 developing and transition economies. She is currently writing her next book Surviving Work: How to manage working in health and social care, Gower 2016.