In a shocking move, Jane Harrington, Hospital Director of the Priory, Preston, has decided to withdraw funding for the Nordoff & Robbins charity. This organization provides specialist music therapy as a key component of treatment regimes in hospitals and care homes, offering a unique approach to support mental health and recovery. Instead, it has been concluded that regular Occupational Therapy (OT) can stand in for the unparalleled, highly specialized therapy Nordoff & Robbins provides. We believe this harsh decision neglects the proven benefits of music therapy and the meaningful positive impact it's had on patients' mental health. Music therapy has been shown to reduce anxiety, depression, and overall emotional distress among hospital patients (Medical News Today, 2018), something OT alone might not achieve. In Lancashire alone, where our community is majorly impacted, hundreds of patients are left adrift without this crucial aspect of their care and treatment. We urge Jane Harrington to seriously and urgently reconsider this decision. Save the therapeutic rhythms that contribute to healing our patients! Please sign this petition stand against the defunding of Nordoff & Robbins at the Priory, Preston.

My Personal Story:

I am an NHS inpatient at the Priory Hospital Preston. I am battling Anorexia and I also have Autism and Complex PTSD. I am a huge animal lover and I have a wonderful family, and I am working my very hardest to beat my eating disorder so that I can be discharged home to be with them again.

When music therapy was offered as part of my treatment I immediately said “yes please”. I had never had music therapy before but I had done art therapy which I liked. However, quite soon it became apparent that the music therapy from Nordoff & Robbins with their person-centered and bespoke approach was the most meaningful arts-based therapy specialism I had ever received. I felt inspired, I felt ‘alive’ again - at a time when I was feeling like there was no hope. Through my continuing engagement in the sessions I was enabled to develop this sense of inspiration, and in building this it made/makes it easier for me to fight against a mental illness (Anorexia) that is understood by many as being an illness which can completely take over the sufferer’s mind and their body to a dangerous degree. 

Accessing a music therapist who specialises in helping people with mental health/related conditions works for me because Anorexia, alongside Autism and trauma are conditions that often make talking about what’s going on very difficult, and often distressing. It’s easy to get into a vicious trap of talking and expressing less; leading to increased anxiety about talking and expressing. Music therapy breaks through this barrier for me and it makes me more able to talk, share and express myself in other contexts which is very beneficial to my recovery at the hospital. 

In the sessions, I would always find that I could express myself as a person with confidence. Putting myself forward in most situations is scary for me but in the music therapy sessions Debbie somehow always managed to bring me ‘out of myself’ and I can honestly say that this is because she is a highly competent therapist as well as an amazing person who finds a way in to help people open up - whatever stage they are at with their mental health, and even on a bad day. I had a similar experience with the therapist from Nordoff & Robbins, before Debbie took over. 

This charity really is a therapeutic resource that has proven itself in bucket loads both to the service users and the settings that choose them as a therapy to offer their patients. It was a shock to hear that the hospital had decided to stop funding Nordoff & Robbins charity. It was hard to understand because the staff and patients on the ward were always so appreciative of Debbie’s (and the previous therapist’s) sessions and there was always an upbeat ‘vibe’ on the ward on the day she came to work here each week. 

For me, our sessions changed my whole day and this was noticeable to the wider care team as well as to my family. To the point that the sessions had a lasting effect over the week. I had told the charity before I heard the sad news that  “when I’m involved in the sessions I don’t feel I’m in the midst of the relentless stress that comes with anorexia, in fact I don’t feel like I even have this illness because I am free, I am myself, the music takes over”. 

I was shocked all the more that management made the decision to remove formal music therapy provided by these highly trained therapists because there is no art and/or drama therapy provision - which are quite common treatments used in eating disorder and mental health inpatient settings. I’m also aware that research backs up why creative arts (music/art/drama) therapists significantly contribute to patients overcoming and managing their mental health difficulties - as music therapy does with me. 

There is a big gaping hole left now in the care and treatment being provided at this mental health hospital, and this is unnecessary. It’s not too late to reverse things and make a difference to the health and wellbeing of patients on the different wards at the Priory Preston. But to make this a reality we need as much backing as possible, meaning that every signature and every comment you leave on this petition really does count….

Thank you for taking the time to read about this cause that is so close to my heart and the hearts of others.