Islington Council child abuse victims told therapy may end

Some patients have been told by therapists that the service will close in March 2025. Others say they have already had their treatment cut off.

There has been anger and upset among abuse victims, with Jane Frawley, of the Islington Survivors Network (ISN), calling it “absolutely soul-crushing”.

Her colleague Dr Liz Davies confirmed that those who had received the news were left “very, very upset”.

The news comes less than two months after applications closed for the council’s Support Payment Scheme, offering £10,000 to survivors of historic abuse in its children’s homes.

The survivors network said dozens of new victims came forward in the final months of that scheme after the council advertised it on a radio station.

“So we are looking at months and months for them to get through all these people, with the potential of them then not being able to get any therapeutic help,” said Jane.

She said the apparent end of therapy made a mockery of the council’s promise that the payment scheme would not retraumatise survivors.

“This particular thing shows very clearly that they really do not give a rat’s arse about survivors and not retraumatising them,” she said. “It makes absolutely no sense.”

While insisting the service was not under threat, Islington Council was not able to explain why service users had been told it was closing down.

It appears the contract for the current service is coming to an end, but the council says it has never suggested the service itself will stop.

The Gazette was contacted by a patient last month who said she had been told by her therapist that the service was being shut down. However, she had not received any confirmation in writing.

Then others started telling ISN they had been told the same. One, said Jane, was left “shocked” after being told the therapy session she was sitting in was “one of her last three”.

Shortly thereafter, said Dr Davies: “Some survivors had their therapy ended. Therapy that was supposed to be ongoing. They are obviously closing people down in readiness.”

Dr Liz Davies is a former Islington social worker who turned whistleblower, helping to expose widespread abuse in the council's children's homes. She is now an emeritus professor of social work at the London Metropolitan University (Image: Charles Thomson)

Read more:

• The Islington children's homes abuse scandal: What happened and when
• Islington abuse scandal: Council chief admits, 'We were culpable'

Those told their therapy was being halted included Jane, who said the council had since refused to answer any of ISN’s queries about the service.

“The communication between them and us is usually so much better,” she said. “They explain that they are going to be looking for further funding.”

But as the current contract nears its end, she claimed, “Communication has completely shut down from them towards us.”

They had to resort to the Freedom of Information Act just to confirm that the current contract ends in March.

Dr Davies said that although the service looks set to formally end in March, that means it is likely to start winding down much earlier as staff jump ship.

One therapist has already told patients they are leaving.

Once it is gone, ISN said, victims will be left with a choice between long waiting lists for NHS therapy or the prohibitive cost of going private.

“So there won’t be any viable alternative for all these people that have been afflicted by the 42 children’s homes Islington ran and that really hurt them,” said Jane.

Islington Council has previously admitted and apologised for decades of widespread abuse in its children’s homes.

A spokesperson said: “We're committed to doing everything we can to support survivors of non-recent child abuse in Islington children's homes. 

"We know how vital trauma support is to many survivors and people who experienced abuse, and we will definitely continue to provide high-quality trauma support.

“All councils must follow the law and strict guidelines around procurement for contracts we have with service providers. The current contract with our trauma therapists ends in March next year, and we are starting work on the next contract.

"To be absolutely clear, the council will continue to provide high-quality trauma support."

ISN can be reached at 0300 302 0930 or islingtonsn@gmail.com.