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NHS 'is failing' mental health patients

The NHS is still failing people with mental health problems, despite a Government strategy launched more than a year ago, charities have warned.

They say patients in some areas are waiting at least three months for specialist counselling. Some end up going private because they need more urgent care.

Others are developing more severe symptoms because doctors do not take warning signs seriously enough.

The charity Mind says the mental health strategy, called No Health Without Mental Health, has so far failed to improve the outlook for patients.

Chief executive Paul Farmer said: "Having a strategy is only the first step. Action is what makes a real difference to people's lives."

Mental health charities will today join Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to launch what the Department of Health calls an "implementation framework" to improve care.

There will be clear guidance for health and social services, local authorities and housing associations on what they should be doing to help patients. It will say that mental health is just as important as physical well-being.

One in four people will have a mental health problem in any given year.

But mental health services have long been seen as an easy cut to make when money is tight. Implementation of the Government strategy stalled while the NHS and social care was reorganised.

Mr Farmer said: "Many people live well with a mental health problem, but far too many don't.

"There are very high numbers of people out of work because of their mental health and people who can't take part as equal citizens in our society because of the stigma and discrimination."

Laura Sherlock has battled with mental illness since she was involved in a car accident in her teens. Her depression became so bad she began to self-harm and had suicidal thoughts.

But her GP told her she was just thinking her way into problems and refused to refer her to a psychiatrist. Only when she developed schizophrenia did she get the help she needed.

"If that support had been there initially, I would not need it now because I would not have got so seriously ill," she told Sky News.

"There were several times I could have died because of what was going on in my head. It's just luck and the love of my family that meant that didn't happen."

yampy9 wrote on 08 | 21 | 2012
I've been saying this for about 20 years.I've had several physical health problems over the years that have been ignored by GPs and consultants in hospitals due to my bipolar diagnosis. Request copies of your medical notes and see what your GPs are writing about you following visits. It's a real eye opener.I can't say I've seen too much of the glorious NHS people speak of as someone who suffers from mental health problems.I don't wish to see it privatised,but it certainly has many faults that urgently need addressing.
Vambo wrote on 08 | 21 | 2012
My son is having to wait 12 months for one-to-one CBT. This is their response to someone who said he is "desperate"!! The only private CBT counselor in my area charges £80 for one session, and you have to pay for the course in advance. This is way beyond our reach, so we just don't know what to do.
jewlie wrote on 07 | 30 | 2012
keeping in touch with patients a good start !!! Even with my medical history when I needed help I went on waiting list for 18mths and I was reassessed after 6 months at which point I told them I was having suicidal thoughts and all they did was cut the amount of medication I could pick up on repeat by half!!!
The Byronic Antihero wrote on 07 | 25 | 2012

I was fairly lucky, I suppose. I had a mixed (bipolar) episode, got an urgent meeting with a locum who referred me for counselling, then another meeting with a regular GP a month later, who sent me home with SSRIs.

Luckily, I asked for a second opinion and was told not to take SSRIs. This second doctor referred me to the psychiatric team at the local hospital. One month later, so two months after being flagged as suicidal, I got an assessment session for counselling. They agreed to take me on, which was good, but I ended up being told to wait another two months.

Two months passed and, four months after seeing the doctor, I finally started counselling. This continued for a while and suddenly I got an appointment with a psychiatrist for a date six months after my episode. And at the end of it all, I get told by other sufferers of bipolar disorder that I must have a really good local PCT to be seen after only six months. Six months is good for a potentially-suicidal person? That terrifies me.

Luna0 wrote on 07 | 25 | 2012
I have had a doctor telling me that I am, and I quote 'Mad', another doctor telling me to pull myself together, and another doctor when I aske to be referred for psychiatric help told me that I was not bad enough. How many times do we have to ask before we get the help required. I have beed struggling to stay in work with my condition for 12 years and am currently applying for Ill Health Retirement. The report that I have received states that I suffer wih 'low mood' amd unhappy in my work but this is 'not commensurate with incapacity'. I have attempted suicide 3 times and think that I have actually suffered with depression all my life but these doctors do not consider my condition to be permanent. I am on numerous drugs and am still finding it hard to cope. I am at the end of my tether. I am lucky that my GP still supports me and that my husband is a tower of strength.
Deb wrote on 07 | 25 | 2012
I was ten months on a waiting list to see an NHS counsellor, one doctor at my group practice wrote to the agency who deals with NHS counselling for Somerset PCT telling them that if I didn't see a counsellor soon they could expect to find me in a life threatening situation. Three months later, I received a letter from the agency asking me if I still wanted to see a counsellor or did I want to come off of the list. I phoned them, only to be told that there wasn't a counsellor available for me, but if my GP wrote to them saying it was urgent they could find me one, I told them that they had received a letter three months ago saying it was very urgent. the person on the other end of the phone was completely devoid of any empathy, it really was a case of "computer says no" I completely lost it over the phone, they managed to find a counsellor for me. My doctor made a formal complaint against the agency, I was then asked by someone from the agency if I could inform my doctor that I was receiving counselling as they couldn't understand why she was going ahead with her complaint. I told them that my doctor was aware that I was at long last receiving counselling, she was complaining about my treatment from them leading up to the counselling.