Mental healthcare in the UK - what went wrong?

[quimcunx]

Even if we had a government who genuinely wanted to change things everything is so comprehensively fucked it would take decades get back to pre tory times, let alone the mental health services we truly need and deserve. We don't have that government.

 

[A380]

Complete ban on police cells * being used as a place of safety and police attending people in mental health related crisis unless they are there just to support trained professionals.

Can’t see it happening though…

* not that there will be many free anyway since they will be full of people on remand since the prison service has crashed…

 

[existentialist]

It should also be recognised that if by some miracle there did end up being some level of effective NHS mental health care, who out of all the people who've spent years trying to negotiate what there was, and quite often come to the conclusion that they're better off not engaging at all (as it was simply worse for them to do so) is going to appreciate that? How is it that they would be told and convinced if that happened? and I'm not sure would happen anyway

Well, many access the existing system under protest, as it's usually the gatekeeper for whatever meagre crumbs are dropped (usually medication), so I suppose that they'd notice that way.

But yeah, it's probably a pipe dream, he said wistfully.

 

[existentialist]

Complete ban on police cells * being used as a place of safety and police attending people in mental health related crisis unless they are there just to support trained professionals.

Can’t see it happening though…

* not that there will be many free anyway since they will be full of people on remand since the prison service has crashed…

Before you ban something, there has to be an alternative.

 

[A380]

Before you ban something, there has to be an alternative.

Indeed. But what we have now is t really a planned and defensible policy. It’s just there isn’t an alternative in most places. But those corporate tax cuts and fast track VIP PPE contracts couldn’t pay for themselves…

 

[InArduisFouette]

Before you ban something, there has to be an alternative.

quite a lot of places have moved to ' Health-based Places of Safety' , some ICBs think that Ambulance service provided Mental health response units are the way forwards, others have introduced MHUACs often co-located with the Health Based Place of Safety, which can be accessed by Ambulance crews, the police, 111/OOH and in some places even self referral via the local community/ Mental health Single Point of Access service

 

[LakieLady]

Complete ban on police cells * being used as a place of safety and police attending people in mental health related crisis unless they are there just to support trained professionals.

Can’t see it happening though…

* not that there will be many free anyway since they will be full of people on remand since the prison service has crashed…

I work with clients with mental health issues. I've encountered a few who've been so desperate to get help from mental health services that they've committed crimes in order to get arrested and detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act. When they're detained in a police station, the mental health service finally gets its act together and they get assessed and (usually) admitted.

Not knocking the MH teams, btw, they are overstretched and under-resourced, just like the rest of the NHS.

 

[bellaozzydog]

The southwest approach seems to be, patient attends GP with issues, gets medicated and given a phone number to ring… phone number staffed by brand new psychology graduate with fuck all experience reading a set questionnaire.