I am writing about the "system and protocol" a young woman who lives alone is currently experiencing.
It was decided a few weeks ago to abruptly stop an antipsychotic medication this young person had been taking for over a year. This caused her severe distress and she is still suffering.
The psychiatrist reluctantly agreed to restart her on the medication but on half the dose she had been taking. No support given to this young vulnerable girl who lives alone. Previously had psychosis but this was under control - she is now in a traumatic state, leading to three separate incidents to harm herself in one week. On each occasion she had to sit in Forth Valley Royal A&E for hours before seeing a medical doctor and then wait even longer to see someone from the MHAAT service, who sent her home because apparently the NICE guidelines say it would make her worse to be admitted to a ward for treatment!
She then saw two very caring and understanding practitioners from MHAAT at her home, who assured us she was now under their Crisis Team. However, later "the voices" became too much and she attempted to harm herself. Again, I was informed by MHAAT service that she would have to get her own way to A&E department, meaning she would have to go through the same trauma of waiting for hours in a very crowded A&E dept to get blood tests etc before she could be seen by MHATT.
I took her to A&E and checked her in after 8pm. She messaged me to say she had been sent home again at 7.30am in the morning, to get a visit from MHATT team at home some time that day!
How much longer is this going to continue?
Until this young girl does eventually take an action serious enough to extinguish her life and stop her being a nuisance at A&E and a burden to their services?
Or will the Forth Valley Mental Health Service and other health and social care services support her adequately to help her through this traumatic time before it is too late and she becomes another sad statistic of a failed system?
"Failing to provide adequate support"
About: Community Mental Health Services / Mental Health Acute Assessment and Treatment Service (MHAATS) Community Mental Health Services Mental Health Acute Assessment and Treatment Service (MHAATS) FK5 4WR Forth Valley Royal Hospital / Accident & emergency Forth Valley Royal Hospital Accident & emergency FK5 4WR
Posted by Desparate Carer (as ),
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