NHS failing child sex abuse survivors with ‘woeful’ support, victim says

Ian Ackley, who was abused by paedophile football coach Barry Bennell, said he was not surprised that a new report found five out of six survivors feel let down by NHS mental health support

Alex Matthews-King

Health Correspondent

Tuesday 07 May 2019 07:12 BST

Ian Ackley, who was abused by football coach Barry Bennell, said ‘woeful’ support meant he no longer attempts to use NHS counselling (PA)

A survivor of child sexual abuse who experienced the NHS’s “woeful” support first hand has said he is not surprised to hear five out of six victims today still feel let down.

Ian Ackley, who was abused by paedophile football coach Barry Bennell in the early 1980s, said he has given up on NHS mental health services in the wake of his past experiences.

A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse revealed on Tuesday that 16 per cent of survivors of child sexual abuse felt their needs were met by NHS mental health services.

Mr Ackley, 50, said more funding to access mental health services, and specialist support for people who have experienced abuse, was needed.

He first sought mental health support in the early 1990s after Bennell was arrested. But when Bennell’s abuse hit the headlines again in 2016 he sought support from the charity Sporting Chance instead.

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

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1/6Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

The elderly

“We acknowledge that there are pressures on the health service, there are always extra pressures on the NHS in the winter, but we have the added pressures of the ageing population and the growing complex needs of the population,” Theresa May has said. Waits of over 12 hours in A&E among elderly people have more than doubled in two years, according to figures from NHS Digital.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Patients going to A&E instead of seeing their GPs

Jeremy Hunt has called for a “honest discussion with the public about the purpose of A&E departments”, saying that around a third of A&E patients were in hospital unnecessarily. Mr Hunt told Radio 4’s Today programme the NHS now had more doctors, nurses and funding than ever, but explained what he called “very serious problems at some hospitals” by suggesting pressures were increasing in part because people are going to A&Es when they should not. He urged patients to visit their GP for non-emergency illnesses, outlined plans to release time for family doctors to support urgent care work, and said the NHS will soon be able to deliver seven-day access to a GP from 8am to 8pm. But doctors struggling amid a GP recruitment crisis said Mr Hunt’s plans were unrealistic and demanded the Government commit to investing in all areas of the overstretched health service.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Simon Stevens, head of NHS England

Reports that “key members” of Ms May’s team used internal meetings to accuse Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, of being unenthusiastic and unresponsive have been rejected by Downing Street. Mr Stevens had allegedly rejected claims made by Ms May that the NHS had been given more funding than required.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Previous health policy, not funding

In an interview with Sky News’s Sophy Ridge, Ms May acknowledged the NHS faced pressures but said it was a problem that had been “ducked by government over the years”. She refuted the claim that hospitals were tackling a “humanitarian crisis” and said health funding was at record levels. “We asked the NHS a while back to set out what it needed over the next five years in terms of its plan for the future and the funding that it would need,” said the Prime Minister. “They did that, we gave them that funding, in fact we gave them more funding than they required… Funding is now at record levels for the NHS, more money has been going in.” But doctors accused Ms May of being “in denial” about how the lack of additional funding provided for health and social care were behind a spiralling crisis in NHS hospitals.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

Target to treat all A&E patients within four hours

Mr Hunt was accused of watering down the flagship target to treat all A&E patients within four hours. The Health Secretary told MPs the promise – introduced by Tony Blair’s government in 2000 – should only be for “those who actually need it”. Amid jeers in the Commons, Mr Hunt said only four other countries pledged to treat all patients within a similar timeframe and all had “less stringent” rules. But Ms May has now said the Government will stand by the four-hour target for A&E, which says 95 per cent of patients must be dealt with within that time frame.

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Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves

No one

Mr Hunt was accused of “hiding” from the public eye following news of the Red Cross’s comments and didn’t make an official statement for two days. He was also filmed refusing to answer questions from journalists who pursued him down the street yesterday to ask whether he planned to scrap the four-hour A&E waiting time target. Sky News reporter Beth Rigby pressed the Health Secretary on his position on the matter, saying “the public will want to know, Mr Hunt”. “Sorry Beth, I’ve answered questions about this already,” replied Mr Hunt. “But you didn’t answer questions on this. You said it was over-interpreted in the House of Commons and you didn’t want to water it down. Is that what you’re saying?” said Ms Rigby. “It’s very difficult, because how are we going to explain to the public what your intention is, when you change your position and then won’t answer the question, Mr Hunt”. But the Health Secretary maintained his silence until he reached his car and got in.

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Last year, Bennell was found guilty of 43 counts of child sexual abuse against 11 victims.

Mr Ackley told the Press Association: “It doesn’t surprise me at all: that’s my experience of those 20 years ago and I didn’t even attempt to go down an NHS route this time.

“I’m fully aware that there’s between a six- and 18-month waiting list for face-to-face therapeutic services and even then, the amount of sessions you can access is very restricted.”

He said his first experience of support on the NHS was “absolutely woeful” and “absolutely inappropriate” for the type of trauma he had been through.

Most survivors will only have access to NHS support, he added, and said it was “way past time” the government acted after a series of revelations about historic abuse.

Mr Ackley said: “Given the tsunami of disclosures within the sporting arena, never mind the religious arena or education and any others, we’d be naive to think that the numbers of people coming forward would fall anytime soon.”

The APPG report found that survivors wait an average of 26 years to disclose abuse, with 90 per cent finding that the abuse has negatively affected their intimate relationships.

Nine in 10 said their mental health was affected by their experiences, while 81 per cent reported that their family life had been negatively affected by the abuse they suffered.

Mental health services were one of the most important forms of support for victims but access was too variable, and the report calls for NHS commissioners to ringfence counselling budgets for abuse survivors.

Labour’s Sarah Champion, who chairs the group, said it was “morally wrong” that survivors were being left to fend for themselves.

She said: “I have spoken to hundreds of survivors of childhood sexual abuse. It is striking that almost all of them describe the way they are treated by the state as a secondary form of abuse.

“Who are we as a nation if we do not support victims of horrendous crime?”

A government spokesperson said: “Child sexual abuse is an abhorrent crime and today’s report lays bare the emotional and psychological scars it can leave on its victims.

“We are working across government and with the health and charitable sectors to ensure that victims of this dreadful crime receive the right emotional, medical and psychological support as they rebuild their lives.”

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