Carpe diem: seize the day
| Published date | 01 March 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200500003 |
| Pages | 7-9 |
| Date | 01 March 2005 |
| Author | Jenny Bywaters |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Dum loquimur,fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
Even while we speak,Time, the churl, will have been running.
Snatch the sleeve of today and trust as little as you may to tomorrow.
Horace Odes 1 xi 7
Carpe diem: seize the day
JennyBywaters
Director of Public Health
NIMHE
jenny.bywaters@dh.gsi.
gov.uk
GUEST
EDITORIAL
7
One of the advantages of writing a guest
editorial is the opportunity to share a
purely personal view of the current
scenario from whatever vantage point
the writer happens to occupy.
Reading through the articles in this slot written by
previous guest contributors, I have been struck by the
extent to which some have appeared to feel
disempowered by a perceived absence of leadership at a
national level; to feel unable to act without an
overarching framework or set of targets or identified
ring-fenced budget, and to look to NIMHE to remedy
these difficulties (eg. Ingold & Cameron, 2003).
This is interesting because, from where I sit in the
National Institute for Mental Health in England
(NIMHE), close to the Department of Health, it feels as
though the balance of power has been shifted to the front
line (Department of Health, 2001). Staff at the centre
have been reduced in number. They are limited in what
they may issue by way of guidance or instructions, and in
what information they may request from the NHS.
Moreover,the bulk of the budget has been devolved to
PCT level, with few strings attached. Those working at
national level feel almost impotent, yet clearly those
involved in public mental health in local communities
do not feel correspondingly empowered.
What is to be done?
One of my favourite films of all time is Dead Poets
Society, in which a maverick, inspirational teacher of
English played by Robin Williams is appointed to a post
in a conventional American boarding school. He sets
out to liberate the dormant intelligence, energy and
creativity of the boys. He constantly urges his charges:
‘Carpe diem! Seize the day!’ As the boys take advantage
of the opportunities before them, they grow in strength
and maturity, self-esteem and confidence, much to the
consternation of the headmaster and school authorities.
Eventually the teacher is forced to leave his job, but his
departure sees the boys triumphantly finding their
voices, and it is clear that neither they nor the
establishment will ever be the same again.
Perhaps there is a message here for all of us involved
in the great public mental health enterprise: let us not
wait for tomorrow,when we hope the environment may
be more propitious in some way, or someone else may
have done something helpful. Let us seize the
opportunities that we can already identify today,lest
tomorrow the focus may have moved elsewhere or
another structural reorganisation may have left us
feeling disorientated and further disempowered.
Where are the current opportunities?
National service framework and five year review
It would be a mistake to underestimate the ongoing
importance of the national service framework for mental
health (NSF) as an opportunity for public mental health
(Department of Health, 1999). Five years on, it remains
the frame of reference for the Department of Health,
and while many feel that standard one has not received
the attention it warranted, that in itself forms a valuable
argument for bringing it further up the agenda now.
Professor Louis Appleby’s recent review of the NSF
five years into the ten year strategy identifies ‘mental
health promotion and social exclusion (standard one) as
an area where less has been achieved’ than on some
other standards (Appleby,2004). He also says: ‘We
need to see an increase in financial investment by local
services in mental health promotion.’ Local champions
of public mental health can cite this in evidence when
arguing that greater priority be given to this issue over
the remaining five years of the NSF.
journal of public mental health
vol 4 • issue 1
©Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Ltd
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