First ever clinic for stalkers opens in Chase Farm Hospital (From Enfield Independent)

Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust opens clinic to treat stalkers

11:20am Thursday 8th December 2011 in Top Stories By Tristan Kirk

THE first-ever clinic to treat stalkers is being opened in north London today.

The National Stalking Clinic will assess, treat, and rehabilitate stalkers to try to stop them committing violent crimes.

The Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust-run clinic will be based at Chase Farm Hospital, and a course of treatment is said to be cheaper than a prison sentence.

The trust has said if stalkers are given proper treatment “serious crimes can be prevented”, and added that more than three quarters of cases murders by ex-partners involve stalking.

Dr Frank Farnham, a consultant forensic psychiatrist and one of the founders of the clinic, said: “If we can treat stalkers then we can save lives. There is great need for a co-ordinated national service that can provide specialist advice and treatment.

“The psychological impact on victims is corrosive with many suffering months and, in some cases, years of harassment leading to a variety of illnesses including anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress.

“Victims live in a permanent state of hyper-alertness which is physically and mentally draining.”

The new clinic has the backing of Home Office minister and Hornsey and Wood Green MP Lynne Featherstone, and will take referrals from the courts, police, and social services.