Comment on NHS long waiting lists for mental health patients

Comment

Today’s news about the cuts in mental health beds is extremely worrying. The BBC reported that 1,500 mental hospital beds have been cut in recent years quoting Dr Martin Baggaley, medical director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. Waiting lists for mental health patients are getting longer and this is putting people’s lives at risk. We can’t allow this to happen in a modern society. Care Minister Norman Lamb MB was quoted as saying that this situation is unacceptable.

Issues faced each day by mental health patients can include self harm and even admitting oneself to the Accident and Emergency ward does not guarantee that the individual will be seen urgently. It has been reported that people who asked for assistance for having suicidal thoughts decided to put an end to their misery after failing to receive any support or counselling.

On the other side of the coin, patients with physical conditions get to be seen immediately – a heart attack patient must be given CPR as soon as possible. This is of course understandable however suicidal patients should be treated with the same level of urgency. It seems that people experiencing mental health problems need to be given more choices. Turning people away when they took the courage to ask for help can make their depression of suicidal thoughts worse. A sense of abandonment and hopelessness is very likely in such cases. Here at Weightmatters we can offer an emergency assessment and treatment for weight-related conditions and depression. Part of our Triage service is to act as an outpatient clinic: read more about Triage https://weightmatters.co.uk/weight-related-health-conditions/triage/ Our GP, dietician and counsellors are available to talk if your health condition like diabetes is becoming unmanageable and NHS waiting lists are too long. We are here to help: email us at info@weightmatters.co.uk and  together we can find a solution.