"We will have blood on our hands" as there are no suitable beds for a mentally ill teenager.

tapzilla2k

This is a damning indictment on the state of the mental health system in the UK -
Family judge 'ashamed' by support for suicidal girl - BBC News
A Top Judge Just Warned That Mental Health Failings Could Leave The State With "Blood On Our Hands"

The buzzfeed article has a link to the judges report. Put simply there are no suitable beds for a teenage girl who is currently in youth custody. It is expected by most involved with her care that if she is not found an adequate bed within the mental health system, she will likely commit suicide with 24-48 hours.   

Rant Mode -
There are not enough beds for children and young adults within the NHS, nor are there enough beds for adults (wards keep getting closed to save money). Being a "service user", I can tell you that it is incredibly difficult to even get access to therapies and even if you do the waiting lists are a year or longer. If you hit a crisis point, you can sometimes be assessed, only to be told to go to Mind groups and refer yourself to the complex needs services (which is another long waiting list). You will only get seen by senior Hospital consultants in a lot of cases if you attempt suicide, it is usually the Police who have to deal with it meaning a delay in the sectioning process. All of May and Hunts promises of extra money does not even scratch the surface. I know of a few mental health nurses, who are newly qualified who are leaving the NHS due to the pressures and stress. Not enough beds and not enough staff to keep people safe and provide the care required. We cannot claim to be a civilised society if we continually underfund NHS Mental Health Services and frankly let people die because treatment is hard to come by. It's time all budgets for mental health services were ring fenced to stop Clinical Commissioning Groups and Hospital Trusts from diverting money out of mental health to prop up other parts of the NHS. Poor mental health leads to lost productivity which damages the Economy and costs the tax payer (studies have been conducted). I'm serious when I say we are probably looking at a Mid Staffs level scandal in the NHS, if prompt action is not taken immediately. No more time for dilly dallying as Jeremy Hunt has been doing.

rustybin

NHS at breaking point. Prisoners seemingly always rioting. Not enough teachers.

If this is a result of austerity, I'd suggest as a country we can't afford it.

Bl4ckGryph0n

I was very much in between agreeing and not agreeing. On the balance I agree and find it very said.

Unfortunately where I don't agree is punting this towards central government. Ultimately there are so many more people involved and people on every level are making such decisions and often lack common sense.

Blaming it on austerity like rustybin has already done  is a lazy option in my opinion. I, Daniel Blake is a pretty darn good example of a movie that demonstrates that it is us who are failing our fellow human beings. Throwing more money at it isn't the solution. We can't buy ourselves out of these attitude issues. The change has to come from ourselves.

Everyone deserves to be treated as a human being.

rustybin

You misunderstood or misread my post. I didn't blame it on austerity.

Jezza99

If I may be permitted to comment, regardless of the rights and wrongs of the issue, the judge seriously went over the top in his comments - overtly political.

Mental health is just another area like all others in the NHS under strain. And I wouldn't call spending 120bn quid a year "austerity". It is just symptomatic of a broken funding model that will never be fixed until both politicians and public are ready to have a grown up discussion on the NHS, rather than treating it as a sacred cow.

tapzilla2k

Jeremy Hunt has been warned repeatedly of the problems with the level of bed cuts, yet he twiddles his thumbs and spins. You can blame CCG's and NHS managers making bad decisions on a local level. But the ultimate responsibility lays with the Department of Health and the Sectary of State. Lansley tried to remove that responsibility in the Health and Social Care act, but was defeated in Parliament. What the CCG's allow the Government to do is side step any blame for a scandal in the NHS i.e. "They made the decision, we just err provided the regulatory framework for it". The Health and Social Care Act 2012 needs to be repealed.

The only way to ensure that mental health services get the appropriate level of funding is ring fencing the budgets and that can only be done by Central Government. The disintegration of an already fragile service has been rapid over the last 7 years. If you don't use NHS mental health services then you wouldn't really know how bad things have gotten. Cameron failed to deliver parity between Physical Health and Mental Health and May looks to be failing as well. Cuts have consequences and in this area that usually means preventable deaths in most cases (see various reports). Lack of funding in NHS Mental Health Services and cuts to benefits is brewing a mental health crisis.

Jezza99

So how much more than 120bn quid a year needs spending then, and how would you pay for it?

tapzilla2k

NHS Mental Health Budgets are continually raided to prop up other parts of the NHS (happens under successive governments). It has always been underfunded and now it's on it's knees. Won't take much to topple it, the Police are spending inordinate amounts of resources picking up the slack from where the NHS has failed already. This isn't about the NHS being a sacred cow. This is about Mental Health being ignored for too long and being underfunded as a result. It needs a massive injection of cash to stabilise the service and get it working properly. And more importantly to get people well and to save lives.

As far as the NHS budget goes ? Raise Taxes, reform the NHS where needed to save money as long as it doesn't impact upon patient safety. This is the debate the Tories and Labour are refusing to have, as it means they can no longer promise the NHS can all of this without paying for it, kicking the problems down the road for a future Government to deal with.

Jezza99

Raise taxes ? Is that your best answer? So how much exactly do you want to raise in additional taxes? Who is going to pay them? What taxes are you going to raise? Then what happens when the NHS gets out it's begging bowl next year?

Bl4ckGryph0n

I think what you propose is simply a temporary 'solution'. As I said, but fair enough you don't have to agree, ordinary people make these decisions. There is a huge budget, everyone will argue for ring fencing theirs. Personally I'm also in favour for Mental Health to be taken seriously, and I also agree that the police has way too much 'picking up' to do.  The people working there have to do a better job, build less empires and invest in the right areas. Personally I think it is simply too big to be managed efficiently. And you can't have Westminster micro manage it either.