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I am appalled at the heartlessness of crisis services at @LPTnhs. My friend, dx with 'schizophrenia', having OD'd on Monday after weeks of talking of assisted suicide and eventually running out of energy to wait for paperwork, has been pushed further towards the edge by services
Having been sent there by his psychiatrist (after his CPN was unable to get an urgent appointment with a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist - following much chasing - told him to turn up at a centre to see crisis team and ? hospital), they sent him home to be reassessed by his CPN
Rather than hearing him, responding to the depths of his despair and recognising him asking for help is for our benefit (his loved ones) not because he feels able to live, they absent themselves of responsibility because someone messed up in terms of procedure. He's back to sq 1
It's as if they haven't considered the emotional impact of building up the courage to ask for help, or the devastating blow that comes from being sent home after your attempt went unseen and unresponded to. That feeling of invisibility. Of hopelessness. Of invalidation.
Being turned away when you're suicidal is probably the most effective way a mental health service can increase the risk of suicide (to use their terms) ... yet it's common place. I don't know if he'll ask for help again. I don't know if he'll get thru the weekend. I hope he will
Protocol, procedure, referral processes ... all these things are so easily messed up by clinicians (and psychiatrists) who are busy and for many reasons aren't paying attention. That this blocks help from a last port of call - crisis response - is NOT OK. The system is broken.
This is not an isolated incident .. this is pretty much standard 'care' (not the details, but it's that devastating lack of response to despair and desperation that happens time and time again). It's happened to me (recently, with my nice CPN's amazing lockdown disappearing act)
@LPTnhs is not alone. I hear these stories from people up and down the country. I am a practitioner too, and married to a nurse, so I understand some of the strain people are under. But this has to change - NOW. Yet I fear this is just accepted as business as usual, or dismissed.
These situations rarely reach the complaints process. They don't shape trust practice. They are hidden unless someone dies and there's a serious case review. They become a kind of knowledge that survivors have - we know we can't trust crisis care, we know there's no backup
It is time that mental health trusts listen to these experiences & recognise that there must be a radical transformation to change culture, procedures and practice. People should not be turned away in their desperation on a Friday pm (or at any time). There should be #NoWrongDoor
What I love about #OpenDialogue (when done well) is that it provides a framework, the tools and the support for practitioners to RESPOND to people. It doesn't leave people alone. It goes slow and provides space to understand the crisis, rather than jumping to conclusions.
I hope that some people at @LPTnhs read this. I have consent from my friend to tweet about this situation, but this is not an isolated incident. It's a systemic problem that is risking lives & needs addressing. @LPTpatientexp @LPTChair @AngelaHillery @Al_Richards_786
