More on the meaning of a 'Public Gallery'

Dear Mr Seale

Thank you for your letter dated 21 January, which I received yesterday.

I am surprised and pleased to hear that I am the first to take the trouble to draw to your attention the strange seating arrangements of your rooms, and the first to spend time reflecting on the unintended or unexpected consequences of this. It is good to be of use and to bring something new to light. I wonder, though, why you decline to engage with me on the point. When I described the layout to a colleague, he was most surprised. He had thought that 'public gallery' meant what it said.

I had no idea you were also seated here during the course of that meeting, but am happy to hear you were not uncomfortable. However, I am surprised you are not aware that you and I are in different positions and that this has a bearing on my experience, also it seems necessary to say that though you weren't made uncomfortable this is not evidence that I was not uncomfortable. I do wonder why you are so quick to dismiss my point.

My suggestion that the coffee tables could easily give way to the comfort of the public remains true. It was a simple suggestion made in good will, which you have completely overlooked.

I have been unable to fathom the meaning of your third paragraph (that the public is not expected to participate in the actual meeting itself). In a court of law, a lecture room, or indeed an opera house the audience might not be expected to participate in the actual thing itself, but nevertheless has a role to play. Moreover, it must be rare for the audience to be confined to a corner, and obliged continually to look askance at the backs of many players’ heads.

My other question related to designating the speakers with names and positions - both seating and substantial. Your reply addresses only 2 of my 4 points. You supplied a list of names and organisational associations, but I also asked for their position statements and where they were seated. Even the minimum would have been a welcome addition to the day - my neighbours also spent many minutes looking for such a list on and about the chairs. I understand that you are not obliged, and that we might have brought our own copy, etc but be assured a few of us at least had expected it as a courtesy.

There is little courtesy here, in fact, and I am indeed surprised. Your reply is rather mechanical and lacks a human touch. This gives me cause for concern.

One final point – I should like you to know that I have been writing a blog called ‘hpcwatchdog’ for a few months now, and that I would like to record this correspondence there. May I suppose that you will let me know if you don't agree to this act?

Yours sincerely

The responsibility and respect of the public

Dear Dr Anna van der Gaag (President of the HPC)

You were kind enough to welcome us as members of the public, to the first meeting of the PLG for Counselling and Psychotherapy (4 December). In now occurs to me that you might be the person to ask for something quite mundane yet vital in preparation for the next two day ordeal (28 and 29 January).

I found it very uncomfortable at the last meeting partly on account of the strange arrangement of the seating. I had expected to be seated in a 'public gallery' which would afford me the opportunity to view the proceedings and aid my listening and understanding. As it turned out, we were crammed into a corner, and forced to look at the backs of several heads. It was often difficult to know who was speaking as the name tags were not at all visible, this made it difficult for me to follow the discussion at times.

I am rather dreading the repeat of this experience, especially as it will be spread over two days. I have raised this with Messrs Bendall and Seale, but have yet to receive a reply.

But the discomfort of the public gallery was also caused by the substance of the meeting. For example, there were two members of the HPC panel present in this meeting who took up a lot of valuable time apparently reassuring the new professional representatives that in spite of widespread objections from the profession, resistance was going to be futile. This might have been amusing had it been said succinctly, but it was said more than once and at length, which suggests that humour was not the intention. This was odd - what can have been their meaning? Resistance is futile. Wasn't this what the Borg were famous for saying? I should very much have liked to have asked.

A second occasion arose when the spokesman for Skills for Health said there was evidence that 5% of therapists were a serious threat to the public. Can this really be true? Shocking! The HPC say that only 0.23% of other professions represent such a menace. No-one on the committee challenged him. Someone should have. I did wonder whether we had a duty in the public gallery to shout out at that point. What would happen if a voice of conscience were to emit from the back of the room?

It is difficult to know where to post one's questions in all this, and this is why I have finally come up with the idea to write to you. There was more than one moment in the proceedings when our quiet cramped corner was shuffling and muttering under its breath as some committee member or other talked rot. Perhaps there could be a way for the meeting to tolerate or even benefit from some of this frustration. After all, any theatre, even a court of law, can benefit from the feedback of the audience if the performance is outstanding in any way. I hope that the Chairman of the Group is capable of tolerating a groan, a guffaw, or a gasp at least issuing from the back of the room, tho I am sure this would be altogether better managed if we were first accorded the dignity of a properly constructed space.

I do hope you are able to respond.

Yours sincerely

Preparing for the next PLG for C&P, 28/29 Jan 09

[email sent 19th January]
Dear Mr Seale

Looking forward to the HPC PLG for C&P meeting next week, 28 and 29 January, I have written to Mr Bendall to ask if it is possible to organise the room differently so that the public gallery is accorded more respect. I understand that Mr Bendall is not in today, and I suspect he may not be the correct person to whom to address this request, so I have taken the liberty of writing to you.

The problem I refer to is the way the furniture is organised. We are rather pushed into the corner and forced to look at the back of people's heads. This makes it uncomfortable but also very difficult to ascertain who is speaking, and thereby to understand the position from which to make sense of their words.

I think it is common practice for rooms to be organised along the lines of a theatre when the public is allowed to observe. This would be a very welcome innovation not only in the PLG, but also for the fitness to practice hearings and, of course, all other events at which the public is included.

At the very least, if you are unable to innovate in time for next week, may I suggest that you remove the coffee table to another room and allow the seats to occupy the whole of the back wall. Also, it would be enormously helpful to provide a list of the names of the people on the PLG, their affiliation, their position statement, and the seating plan. This would go a long way to relieving the situation.

Yours sincerely




Name and address supplied