New Variant AMHPing – reflections on a pandemic.

By Teams Call AMHP

I’d guess I’m not alone in going through a mountain of drafts when it comes to doing a piece for this

blog. The problem I have is that the challenge I set myself was to do a piece around the experience

of being an AMHP during a global pandemic. As I’m sure you will all appreciate, not an easy task!

When I first started pulling this piece together, it was during the Sunday of Glastonbury. I was quite

pleased with my pithy opening paragraph about a perceived return to normality given the size of the

crowds in attendance; however, I quickly needed to jettison that draft when I realised, I’d spent a

further 200 words comparing Elton John’s singing style to that of Vic and Bob doing the pub singer

on Shooting Stars. With version 1 in the bin, I spent several months doing what I do best –

procrastinating – until I got a burst of energy on the 28th November 2023, following Michael Gove’s

theatrical performance at the COVID-19 enquiry.

It’s important to note that my burst of energy to do this piece was not precipitated by political rage or

anger given what I watched on TV regards the enquiry. To be absolutely honest, I think it was simply

due to the fact I’d been sub-consciously ruminating and cogitating on the issue for long enough

and the time was right for me to unleash my thoughts.

So, without further ado, here is my take on being an AMHP during COVID-19……what the f@%K was

that about!!!.....sorry, false start. Here is my take……

When I close my eyes and think of the pandemic, I’m instantly transported to the build up to

lockdown and then the announcement itself. Those febrile days of March 2020 left one with a sense

that we were on the cusp of a dramatically different Mental Health Act, due to the changes that

could be enacted at the discretion of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care via the

Coronavirus Act, 2020. I distinctly remember just before the proposed amendments were made

available, emailing Mark Trewin outlining my own thoughts around how the Government might wish

to consider making changes to the Act, should the critical mass of AMHPs and Doctors start to

vanish. I believe I stopped just short of suggesting an assessment under the Mental Health Act could

be conducted by a Vet, Priest and Unicyclist; however, in my own mire of anxiety for the safety of

loved ones, well-being of my AMHP colleagues and with too much caffeine coursing through my

veins nothing about my suggestions sounded preposterous or lacking in the core values that define

the role of the AMHP.

I remain grateful that my email did not generate a reply from Mark and that in the days that

followed the unveiling of Schedule 8 of the Coronavirus Act 2020, fellow AMHPs were able to

forensically examine what such changes would mean to the guiding principles of the MHA and the

human rights safeguards that pervade the Act. As we all became familiar with the technicalities of

Zoom and MS Teams it was refreshing to see AMHPs apply vigorous check and challenge in terms of

what such changes, if enacted, would mean for the individual being assessed under the Act. I

remember AMHP colleagues passionately making the point, that if the MHA in its current iteration is

open to accusations of structural bias relating to protected characteristics, then these deficits would

surely be magnified by a diminished assessment process being allowed to come into play.

The golden thread running through the concerns expressed by many of my fellow AMHPs during this

period was not that the Act should remain unchanged considering such unprecedented events; it

was that current arrangements must not give way to poorly written and thought-out amendments.

Arguably the Devonshire ruling, which brought about a settled will in terms of the legality of remote

assessments, best illustrates how AMHPs remained cognisant of the guiding principles of the Act and

understood the need to question whether the parameters of ‘personally seen’ and ‘interview in a

suitable manner’ were unjustifiably stretched through such manoeuvres.

The instinct to check and challenge decision making during the early months of the pandemic helped

to illustrate that AMHPs are unified by two common themes – the first is a love of a fleece like coat

in case one gets cold during an assessment. The second and more critical point is an expectation that

information provided and decisions made are legally literate. At every turn of the pandemic, I saw

how the collective AMHP muscle twitched at the slightest hint of change; Cue Bono – “to whom is it

a benefit,” the inevitable clarion call. The need for purpose, direction and cogency quickly expanded

beyond the realms of social care law and through necessity into the domains of health and safety;

without trying to sound hyperbolic – how to try and ensure you don’t die from doing your job.

As we all came accustomed to the sound of “next slide please” every evening, I was amazed at how

quickly my colleagues found a syncopated rhythm to new ways of working. AMHP reports quickly

included a narrative around COVID status and whether a zoned bed was required as much as

whether the reason for admission was based on a nature or degree judgement. I also remember

during the first period of lockdown, the desire for the system – by this I mean the varied partners

within the health and social care economy – to try and understand why we were experiencing such

fluctuations in activity. It was almost like we were trying to create our own R number for AMHP

activity. I’m not sure to what extent AMHPs flattened various curves during the pandemic, however,

we got very skilled at adding plastic and paper derivatives to our fleece uniform before entering

domestic dwellings and hospital units.

And just like Forrest Gump, that’s all I’ve got to say about that! At a push I could carry on, although

the truth is I don’t think I know how I’d pull it all together into some form of rational conclusion.

Maybe that’s it in a nutshell; I don’t think I can make sense of it all. I know it happened. I know it was

real. I haven’t gone down the YouTube rabbit hole of thinking it was all made up – I’m on jab number

6 I will have you know (Pfizer and the other one…..does anyone remember the other ones?), I just

can’t quite comprehend what we’ve been through. Is it trauma – personal or vicarious? Again, I

don’t know. All I can say by way of a conclusion is I saw the best of my colleagues during this period.

I saw the best of what it is to be an AMHP.