Members of a panel recruited to hear and record the stories of people abused in residential care in childhood are facing "vicarious trauma" and risk burn-out, according to one of the people appointed to carry out the work.

 

The National Confidential Forum was set up by the Scottish Government with a budget of £3 million, to offer a venue for those who had bad experiences in residential children's units, church-run establishments and healthcare settings to have their stories recognised.

However just months after it was officially opened it is facing a burgeoning case load and has just three panel members available to undertake the demanding and often troubling work, following the departure of the forum's head, Anne Currie, who stepped down earlier this year.

The body, which is run on behalf of the Government by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, is to advertise for Ms Currie's replacement and two new members in July or August to help cope with a stream of applicants who wish to take part.

One of the existing forum members, Professor Kay Hampton, said the intention was to have at least four two-hour hearings a week. But with two members needed to hear each former care resident, and only three members at present, the current team faces exhaustion.

"You do run the risk of a kind of vicarious trauma, and you have to prepare yourself mentally after each hearing to do another.

"You can't sit and listen to people's lives as if it is a conveyor belt," she said.

Ms Hampton added that while some people who have suffered harm while in care as children have nevertheless been resilient and thrived, others have "had their lives broken".

There is counselling available for those who tell their stories to the forum, but it is also there for forum members, Ms Hampton explained.

"We may eventually need to hear as many as 2,000 cases a year, but in reality that is not humanly possible.

"We get counselling support as well. People get emotional, some people cry and some get angry. They have every right to be upset and we need to be strong enough to make sure they are given the right kind of response. Not everyone is strong enough to do it."

So far the NCF has held more than 30 hearings, after beginning accepting applications in March. However the number of people coming forward is increasing rapidly, after being initially advertised only through charities, social work teams and survivor networks.