I was stunned when I read this, and am appalled that everyone seems to be so dismissive of it. This person shouldn't be allowed to wander around if she's unstable. What if she gets it into her head to attack a young child?

I hope that you recover soon, Annie. Physically, anyway.

And I hope that you get somewhere with this Chris.
Perhaps the media? Or social media?

Annie, if she bit you, see a DR asap.

I went to the walk in centre this evening and have a prescription for erythromycin (which I'll get in the morning - I'm stupidly allergic to everything else) and three bald spots (which will at least be easier to keep clean). Having shod both my foot and my shoe to a plank of wood (with a very long nail sticking out of it - pointy side up) about 2 months ago - I'm up to date on tetanus jabs.

@Les Bayliss
London under austerity measures is hitting some communities very hard. Mine is one :( 5/6 years ago we had no one sleeping on our streets. We have so many now, under bridges, in shop doorways and bus shelters. It's so sad. We've always, to my knowledge had "care in the community" patients amongst us though, but never any real problems. You get to know them - their bad times (when they're sitting in the park having a blazing row with thin air) and their good times when it's safe to make eye contact and they smile and even say hello, or have a chat with you while you're waiting for a bus etc. I've spent a lot of time with mentally challenged people as a community volunteer - and thought I was quite good at picking up from their body language, their state of mind. All I can think of with this woman, is that the crutches made me miss her "messages". I've spent some time on the things myself this year, and probably recognised "me" in the chaotic nightmare of managing them, and shopping and a decrepit self.

I am in the process of writing a letter to the Mental Health team whose care I believe she should or will be under, and did make a statement to the police. I will send a copy to my MP - though what good that will do when the issue is funding and we have a government that would rather spend that on bombs, I don't know. I will stick with that approach for the moment. I couldn't cope with any kind of media circus though :( I wouldn't want her targeted for a start. She has severe problems that need far closer monitoring - but from health professionals.

The police did say they would be visiting her within twenty four hours and would contact me some time after. Nothing yet.

Thank you for your kind wishes :) they're appreciated. I've mostly stopped shaking - and haven't cried once this evening - so it's looking good :)

Oh gawd, Annie.
What a nasty story.
Brings to mind the old adage....
'No good deed goes unpunished.'

Sorry, I was a bit too brief. (I knew in my mind what I meant.)

By media, I meant lighting a fire under the bureaucrats to do something about this category of person.
I'd forgotten that the northern parts of the world had suffered, some quite badly, from the financial problems of a few years back, and I didn't realise that the UK was still under austerity measures. (We didn't get that down here, something that our pollies kept going on about at the time. Probably to distract us from something else.)

I'm not involved in the outside helping, but through Anglicare. But I do see and hear about it. And they keep getting younger. And then there's the single parents with young children, as well as flood and bushfire victims. It gets depressing at times.

We also went through the "put them out into the community" stage some years ago.
Callan Park is perhaps the best (worst?) example of this.

Anyway, the SETI migrants will be here soon, so I'd better get out of here.

edit
And I'd no sooner left here and had a quick look at a local news site, when I found this:
Mission Australia urges action to halve homelessness by 2025
Some one's reading my mind again.

(I knew in my mind what I meant.)

I knew as well, Les :) The media should be a voice for the people, but most of our news organisations here are the megaphones for the political classes and their backpocket elites - and whatever their reporters uncover - is vetted and sometimes re-angled at editor level. In short - I don't really know the ones to trust :)

But that idea of yours... you know... to light fires under bureaucrats...? :)

Brings to mind the old adage....
'No good deed goes unpunished.'

*SNORT at Mark* :))) indeed :)

Keep us updated Annie.

Well... within 24 hours of the 24 hours the police didn't contact me in - they did. She has been re-admitted as an in-patient (in the hospital that discharged her) pending a review of her case. Hmmmmm :)

Good

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

The stupidest part is - until she unleashed her teeth, I was actually apologising to her :( how DUMB is that!? :( I assumed she thought I was going to run off with her bags or something... and as she was a "disabled elderly lady" it didn't even occur to me to fight her off :(

Pre outage post.

Its quiet here.

Kitties poke their noses around the corner....

"Meow?"

From the Riff Raff:

Here the biggest problem we have with mental
health issues is the fact that local and other
government people don't have to walk the streets
where these people are being forced to live by
uncaring, over worked, and underfunded bureaucrats!
The idea of any useful health care is very quickly
going out of fashion here in Albertastan!
Sorry to hear, I hope it all goes well Annie.

Hmmmm...
Not much meowin' going on here today.

Hmmmm...
Not much meowin' going on here today.

I think everyone is so excited about finding water on Mars that they can't post.

Sorry, was too busy getting my cars shot from under me by total strangers in GTA V Online. It's my newest nerve calming game type. :)

Am going off again, warming up dinner.

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You could shoot a cannon in here today and not hit a thing!

I came in during the outrage, but I hadn't finished reading about Annie's biting when I was done with work and left.

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signature

I came in during the outrage, but I hadn't finished reading about Annie's biting when I was done with work and left.

Poor Annie. :( I do hope this isn't the start of the Zombie apocalypse.

I think I'd better to put my reply to that in the politics area.

I came in during the outrage, but I hadn't finished reading about Annie's biting when I was done with work and left.

Poor Annie. :( I do hope this isn't the start of the Zombie apocalypse.

Watched a couple of episodes of The Walking Dead last night :)

edit@Chris: I'm not sure what you mean by day centres? The day centres I know of are not institutionalised - they're voluntary, often funded by charity, and offer all sorts of art, music, excercise, skills based classes. They have almost all been closed, but not by do-gooders with budgets, but by caring people without.

When my other half spent time in hospital with a kind of scary depression - because he wasn't sectioned - he was allowed to roam free during the day - had nowhere to go to - and just had to make sure he returned to the ward by nine at night. That was not good for him, nor us. I believe the hospital had once had a social club for patients like him, that was not compulsory, but provided indoor sports activities etc. Funding cuts meant it was only able to run for a couple of hours on a Friday evening. I doubt they even offer that anymore :(

edit@Chris: I'm not sure what you mean by day centres? The day centres I know of are not institutionalised - they're voluntary, often funded by charity, and offer all sorts of art, music, excercise, skills based classes. They have almost all been closed, but not by do-gooders with budgets, but by caring people without.

Much of the "charitable" provision was created by the vision of volunteers who saw problems close up, in their own communities, and had the energy to do something about it: even the school meals service started that way, here in Bradford. But in recent years, much of the more substantial provision has been funded under contract by public authorities, as an alternative and probably preferable solution to direct, institutional, state provision.

But that leads to another of today's headlines:

Bradford homeless charity closes today after 37 years helping vulnerable women and children

Watched a couple of episodes of The Walking Dead last night :)

anniet, have you seen any of the "Fear the Walking Dead"? If so, what did you think?