A patient with mental disorders leaves PTSD after 10 days waiting for a psychiatric bed in the NHS



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A NHS mental disorder patient, who spent 10 days in a general hospital detention due to a shortage of psychiatric beds, said she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from this test.

Clare, who is in her thirties and asked not to be identified, said L & # 39; Independent his health had deteriorated as a result of a separation by the Surrey and Borders Partnership of the NHS Foundation Trust following a suicide attempt in November.


While she went to the hospital "feeling horribly", she is no better, having received no meaningful psychotherapy and having received a lower dose of medication, she now has "the additional joy of a diagnosis of PTSD. "

"Much has been the process of admission, not being listened to and letting people around me make decisions without considering my ideas – while still stuck at the hospital during 10 days, "said Clare.

"I have trouble sleeping after my stay in the hospital because of all this, the trauma of this."

Clare plays a role in mental health within the NHS and has not yet been able to return to work. She has supportive parents and friends, but says it should not be up to them to take care of her when the NHS says she is not eligible for psychotherapy or psychotherapy. help from his home team.

When Claire tried to commit suicide shortly before Christmas, it was her second attempt in less than six months.

"I think they've panicked," she said. "It was my second suicide attempt and I think they were worried because their previous answer was not good enough and they went to another extreme."

After 17 hours of waiting at A & E, the doctors decided to detain Clare under the Mental Health Act, but told him that there was no available psychiatric bed UK.

The purpose of the law is to keep patients who may be at risk for themselves or others and to make therapeutic decisions about them.

But a major independent review of his powers – triggered by a 30% increase in the number of people divided between 2011 and 2015 – called for radical reforms.

This included better consultation with patients about their wishes and their power to challenge decisions that derive from them. He also said that it was urgent to invest in community services to prevent patients from reaching the crisis point.

Clare stated that there was no treatment and that the liaison team with the psychiatrists had only little contact during his stay at the hospital and that She was frustrated that she was in good health and that she was in a hospital bed that could be used by someone else.

View from the hospital bed where Clare was detained for 10 days at the Surrey and Borders Partnership. NHS Foundation Trust (NA)

Although the staff member who recommended him to be split comes to "apologize" eight days later, it took another two days before an NHS-funded bed was finally found in a home. branch of the private priory group, better known for rehabilitating celebrities. addiction problems.

Three days later, after consulting a consultant, they agreed to send her home. But two months later, Clare says she's now been released by the community health team, although she feels she's "struggling to find the right one." 39; help. "

"I am told, if I am in crisis, to access the crisis line and to call their interlocutor. [Surrey and Borders] services – I do not feel able to do this because I believe that my current state of crisis is caused by them.

"The trauma of having to wait so long and not receiving proper treatment has made my condition worse than helping me get better."

Dr. Ranga Rao, who directs acute care for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, is struggling with the daily pressure on the beds. He adds that this also represents a heavy burden for staff, who must first visit nearby NHS hospitals before looking further.

"We were supposed to invest in community mental health beds, but the number of acute care beds has decreased more quickly," he said. L & # 39; Independent.

"We are expecting more patients in NHS hospitals, we have an increase in the number of out-of-area placements and an increasing number of admissions to the private sector."

A report last year found that the NHS spent £ 350 million a year on out-of-area placements and private facilities where there was no local capacity. But this may be far from ideal because patients can be sent hundreds of kilometers of family members for months at a time.

Maggie Gairdner, director of mental health services in Surrey and Borders, said she was investigating Clare's concerns, adding that she is still being cared for by the community team – although it is not what Clare understands.

She said, "We are sorry that [Clare] believes that his care and treatment have been below the high standards we aim to provide to all those who need our support. "


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