My local Accident & Emergency department is rammed with suicidal residents going to A and E as they have no where else to go

This was posted today on Facebook by Paula Peters.

“I want to share a couple of experiences of the mental health services cuts with you today.

I have a local CMHT ( community mental health team) in south London, we had three CMHTs it went down to two, and the discharge rate in the last four years is massive. You will only stay under a CMHT if you are on Clozapine medication, other than that you are back to primary care and GP. You can imagine for clients, as the team calls them, what that does for them with no treatment, no support and no supporting medical evidence needed for (disability benefits) ESA and PIP and support for UC (universal Credit) Claims. My local A and E is rammed with suicidal residents going to A and E as they have no where to go, and local counseling services have an 18 month and longer wait for therapy. The average wait to see a GP in some practices in Bromley is now 8 weeks and climbing. as not only is there a shortage of consultant psychiatrists, but, there is a shortage of GPs.

Just recently, i saw my local consultant psychiatrist who I have not seen since October 2016. I have not been able to see them because they have been on sick leave and there was no one else to help out. I found out when I saw them, what happened.

They now manage two teams within the CMHT, psychosis and adapt. They have 5,000 clients to deal with, appointments and paperwork. That does not include dr training, management of staff, in patient work on the local unit and any other work required of them.

At Christmas they were so tired and wrung out that they caught their bag in a slam door in the office that severely broke their wrist. They did not know the wrist was broken at the time and they went back to the desk they share with 6 other members of staff and wrote up 7 people’s medical notes as they were behind on doing so.
They ended up in A and E for 9 hours and a plaster cast on and off for the next 8 months after a series of operations. They were so stressed when I saw them they were at breaking point.

All they talked about was targets targets targets. Many of them unachieveable and they pointed out the three people going around with clipboards harassing staff. Apparently the next round of redundancies were due. They said they are not sleeping, scared and worried about their jobs and worried about clients who are not getting the support they need.

They cant send anyone for treatment at the local inpatient unit because well there are no beds for 300 miles there are nursing shortages and dr shortages.

When I saw my consultant they said the suicide rate and self harm rate is rocketing due to lack of support. They are angry at the government for the lack of service support and further cuts to come.

As for me, well i am on my third support worker in 9 months. They keep leaving. They are so stressed and depressed am surprised they don’t label the place the titanic!

The support worker who i will only see for six sessions is not sure when she will see me next as she has 1200 clients to see. She is not sure if she is sticking around either. As i need continuity of care with GP i cant get a GP appointment right now she is off sick and they are not sure when she is coming back and the other GP has no openings on the appointment book until December, they can’t get a locum as there is a shortage of those and many of them are engaged elsewhere in the coming weeks.

The cuts to mental health services are claiming lives, putting lives at risk, not just the patients, but the staff too. Patients are being denied the support they so need to get through each day. There is no support available and no good going to local MINDs as it is all work is a health outcome and jog your way through depression which is not helpful to anyone with a severe mental health condition and in serious mental distress.
The person needs support and compassion not to be told they are a burden, told its all their fault and get back to work as soon as possible.

Before you donate to a local mental health charity check first they are not involved in the health and work programme, they do not employ staff and zero hours contracts and they are not bidding for local council and DWP contracts. If they are avoid them, because they are not working for claimants in mental distress but against them. National Mind being paramount to working and colluding with national government and DWP on health and work programme contracts who think if we go out jogging we can jog our way through depression and anxiety and if we think ourselves better, we will be better.

Here is my response to MIND – jog on what utter bollox! If i could jog my way out of depression, and having RA and fibro and HMS its out of the question I would have done it by now and think better and everything will be well?

No, with a tory government and national charities working with them and they persecuting people in mental distress as well as disabled people everything is not well. Its a bloody mess and people are taking their own lives.

We need to talk about this every day, not one day a year because the cuts are going to get worse and with the UC roll out accelerating the deaths and poverty will go through the roof too.

……………………………………………………………

this was posted in the comments:

“I know 3 people who rang crisis team for help as they felt suicidal, one was recently an inpatient after an attempt 2 had both made attempts in the past year, they were all told they would only get help if they attempted suicide. Very sadly, one did and is no longer with us 😦 Those of us who are working in mental health are doing so with not enough resources and far too little time and many of us are becoming unwell too”

If you are having dark thoughts yourself please contact the Samaritans on their free number (free for mobiles, too) 116 123.

Huge number of parents with disabled children are suffering mental health problems

Parents of disabled children in Yorkshire and the Humber believe health and social care services are at breaking point, with confidence at an all-time low.

That is the shocking conclusion of a survey commissioned by the Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP), a coalition of more than 50 charities, which also found that nearly three-quarters of parents of disabled children have experienced mental health issues as a result of continued strain, far higher than the 1 in 6 who report an issue in the general population.

At the root of the issue is the overwhelming lack of health and social care support families receive, with two-thirds worrying daily about being able to meet their disabled child’s needs and 4 in 5 parents having issues accessing vital care services.

read more here: http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/huge-number-parents-disabled-children-13370026

Benefits cut to hit 200,000 people with mental health conditions

Cut contradicts Theresa May’s commitment to end the “burning injustice” of the treatment of people with mental health conditions, say Labour

More than 200,000 people suffering with mental health conditions are set to see their incomes reduced due to draconian social security cuts, it has emerged today.

A Freedom of Information response published today by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) reveals that over 200,000 people with mental health conditions will have their Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) payments reduced, due to cruel cuts which came into force in April this year.

read more here: http://www.welfareweekly.com/benefits-cut-to-hit-200000-people-with-mental-health-conditions/

Tragedy of Liverpool mum who died penniless after her benefits stopped

A mum-of-one suffering from severe mental illness died without any money after her disability benefits dried up.

Annette Francis, 30, was found dead at her Garston home two weeks ago, leaving behind 11-year-old son  Kieron. Her distraught family say Annette  was let down by the authorities in the  months leading up to her death.

At the time of the tragedy, Annette had spent six months without receiving a single penny in benefits, her aunt Ann Sorotos claims.

She told the ECHO: “Annette was penniless because she had  no money coming in from the benefits people. I’m disgusted with them and  think Annette was really badly let  down.”

Annette suffered from a mental  illness similar to bipolar disorder  and was unable to hold down a job.

read more here: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/tragedy-liverpool-mum-who-died-7232928#.U5OZ834xH9l.

More people come forward in the DWP ‘Kill Yourself’ scandal

On 28 February, The Canary reported the case of a woman who claimed an assessor working on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) asked her why she hadn’t killed herself yet.

During my #pip assessment I was asked why I hadn’t killed myself yet. This is standard, assessors regularly ask this question.

— Alice Kirby (@Alice__Kirby) February 24, 2017

Since we published that report, several people have approached us claiming the same thing happened to them. In this follow-up, we are publishing several of their testimonies. We have also spoken to Atos, the company which carries out assessments for the DWP. And in a separate report, we have discussed these claims with the President of the British Psychological Society, Peter Kinderman.

Testimonies

Several people contacted us with similar stories to Alice Kirby’s. Most have asked that we do not mention them by name. The majority of them said they feared it could affect their claims.

Alison:

I was asked by a woman at the Atos PIP interview: ‘Why haven’t you killed yourself yet?’ I remember it very clearly. I left the room in tears and had my PIP cut. I was too afraid to complain in case they took all the money off me.

read more here: https://www.thecanary.co/2017/03/07/more-people-come-forward-in-the-dwp-kill-yourself-scandal/

 

Charities warn high number of young women working in low-paid and insecure jobs having ‘terrible impact’ on their wellbeing

Young women ‘significantly more likely’ to report symptoms of anxiety and depression than young men

Young women are “significantly more likely” to report they are suffering from anxiety or depression than their male counterparts, statistics have revealed, raising concerns that a high number of young women working in low-paid and insecure jobs is leading to a severe decline in mental health.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed worrying levels of mental illness in all young people, with one in five men and women aged 16-24 showing symptoms of anxiety and depression, an increase from 18 per cent in the period 2009 to 2010 to 21 per cent in 2013 to 2014.

Women stood out as being particularly affected, with the proportion of young women reporting anxiety and depression having climbed by four per cent within four years from 22 per cent in 2009 to 2010 to 26 per cent in 2013 to 2014. According to the latest statistics, one in four (25 per cent) young women reported such issues, compared with 15 per cent of young men.

read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/young-women-anxious-depression-mental-health-ons-young-womens-trust-a7683861.html

PIP MOBILITY CHANGES

With many thanks to Benefits And Work. The DWP is continuing to do its best to ignore the law when it comes to PIP mobility criteria. As readers will know, the law relating to PIP mobility was changed on 16th March to make it harder for claimants with mental health problems to get an […]

via PIP MOBILITY CHANGES — Same Difference

British Psychological Society calls for the Government to suspend its benefits sanctions system

In a joint response with other leading psychological bodies to a Government consultation the British Psychological Society has called for the suspension of the benefit sanctions system.

The Government should suspend its benefit sanctions system as it fails to get people back to work and damages their mental health, says the BPS and other leading UK psychological bodies.

The bodies highlight evidence that sanctions, or the threat of sanctions (benefit cuts following a claimant’s failure to comply with jobcentre conditions, e.g. missing an appointment with their work coach) can result in destitution, hardship, widespread anxiety and feelings of disempowerment.

The call came in a joint response to the Government’s consultation, ‘Improving Lives’, from the British Psychological Society, the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, the British Psychoanalytic Council, the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies and the UK Council for Psychotherapy.

Findings from the National Audit Office  show that there is limited evidence the sanctions system actually works, or is cost effective. The bodies argue that the Government needs to change focus from trying to make unemployment less attractive, to trying to make employment more attractive.

read more here: http://beta.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-calls-government-suspend-its-benefits-sanctions-system

Unexpected mental health deaths up 50% in three years

The number of unexpected patient deaths reported by England’s mental health trusts has risen by almost 50% in three years, figures suggest.

The findings, for the BBC’s Panorama programme, are based on FOI results from half of mental health trusts.

Unexpected deaths include death by suicide, neglect and misadventure.

The Department of Health said the increase was “expected” because of changes to the way deaths were recorded and investigated.

Raising the issue at Commons’ health questions on Tuesday, former shadow health minister Luciana Berger said she was “ashamed to live in a country” where the number of unexpected deaths among mental health patients had risen in recent years.

She said: “That is not a reflection of a country that cares equally about mental health as it does about physical health.”

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said there was “a huge to do to improve mental health care”, but said more money had been made available, and more patients were being seen. “I think we are one of the best in the world,” he said.

Unexpected deaths

Thirty-three mental health trusts – which provide most mental health care – out of a total of 57 in England responded to the Panorama Freedom of Information request.

In 2012-13, the trusts reported a total of 2,067 unexpected deaths.

By 2015-16 that had risen to 3,160.

The increase comes at a time of decreased funding for mental health trusts, which provide the bulk of mental health care in England.

Exclusive new analysis for Panorama from the think tank, the Health Foundation, indicates that mental health trusts in England have had their funding cut by £150m over the past four years, compared with a rise in national spending on health of £8bn.

Read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38852420?S

Thousands with progressive and mental illnesses lose their disability benefits in cruel Tory cut

Charities sounded the alarm over a “devastating” shake-up which has axed or reduced 230,000 people’s Personal Independence Payments (PIP)

The fund is designed to help disabled people live independently and is replacing the old Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

Yet around 110,000 DLA claimants who were reassessed for the new benefit – 21% of the total – have been rejected since PIP launched in 2013. Another 121,000 – 23% of those reassessed – were given PIP but at a lower rate than their previous benefit. Overall, 40% saw their payments rise and 12% saw no change.

The figures, covering April 2013 to October 2016 and compiled by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), were slipped out without fanfare on the government’s website today.

Those who lost out include many with progressive diseases – around 450 Parkinson’s sufferers, 3,069 people with multiple sclerosis and 4,450 suffering unspecified ‘malignant diseases’. Others with progressive conditions who saw benefits axed or reduced were around 294 cystic fibrosis sufferers, 36 people with motor neurone disease and 1,617 people classed as “terminally ill”.

Mental health charity Mind warned 74,580 DLA claimants with four key psychiatric disorders lost some or all of their benefits – 55% of all those who were reassessed.

Policy manager Vicki Nash said the figures were a “a huge cause for concern”, adding: “Hundreds of thousands of people with mental health problems rely on DLA and PIP to help them get the support they need to stay well.

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/thousands-progressive-mental-illnesses-lose-9458222