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mental health crisis care

Posted By HikersBudy

"mental health crisis care"

About: Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust / Crisis resolution

(as a service user),

I went to the GP suicidal with plans and means to end my life. She made an urgent referral to the crisis line - it was out of office hours by then. The crisis line said no one was on duty unless I went to A&E and the crisis line shut at around 9pm. To my knowledge, no one but no one thinks this is OK. I went to A&E and the mental health rooms were all full and to be honest I was terrified. I was sat in a cubicle, then moved twice and ended up on a chair in the corridor. The medical team insisted on seeing me despite me not having physical injury but because apparently the crisis team demand this before they ever see anyone. I gave up in the end and after 5 hrs I left. I walked out still feeling suicidal and no one but no one followed up- not with me, not with the GP

My question is this: If the crisis line shuts at 9pm and there is only one person in Islington on duty overnight for everything how can this Trust say they provide mental health crisis support. I have a good GP but in my experience there is nowhere to go when suicidal. I felt they really didn't care. This was my first ever contact with mental health services and it will be my last as their indifference felt callous and I felt more at risk by going to A&E

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Responses

Response from Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust 5 years ago
Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 19/10/2018 at 15:44
Published on Care Opinion on 20/10/2018 at 15:25

Dear HikersBudy

We are sorry to hear you have not had a positive experience with the Crisis Single Point of Access (crisis line) within Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust as you explained in your review.

We have taken your concerns seriously and apologise that your experience of our service did not match the high standards we aim to achieve.

You mentioned you went to see your GP due to experiencing suicidal thoughts with the means to end your life. We can see this was a very difficult time for you and that you needed urgent help. You say it was out-of-hours when the GP made an urgent referral to the Crisis Single Point of Access but was informed the service closes at 9pm and no one was on duty. Due to this reason you then presented yourself to the Emergency Department in order to meet with a Crisis Team clinician. You describe your experience as terrifying, that the Emergency Department was extremely busy, all available rooms were occupied and you had no option but to sit on a chair in the corridor. After five hours of waiting you left the department, still feeling suicidal and with no follow up from either crisis services or GP.

The Camden and Islington Crisis Resolution Teams operate a Crisis Single Point of Access service, 24 hours a day, Monday to Sunday, 365 days per year. During the day there can be up to six clinical staff at peak times responding to calls, only staff who work in the crisis services are permitted to work in the single point of access, this means service users can speak directly to a health professional.

However, at night-time the service is limited and is operated by a single staff member per borough who attends the various Emergency Departments within London. This is in addition to answering calls or voice messages when they are not able to respond immediately. This can place additional pressure on the crisis system and does mean some service users calling may need to wait before being able to get to talk to someone. We are working to address this.

The Single Point of Access accepts referrals into Crisis Services; we aim to see referrals within 24 hours, for more urgent referrals who are unable to wait to be seen due to the high risk they may be under are instead directed to see mental health professionals within our local Emergency Department. We accept the Emergency Department is not the ideal environment for patients when experiencing a mental health crisis but on occasions there is no alternative option as safety is our priority.

We are working hard to improve access to crisis service so we do value your feedback.

All calls to the Crisis Single Point of Access are recorded for learning and development purposes and so we are able to understand quickly if service users have had poor experience with our service.

In order to address this in more detail, we would be very keen to look at this case so I hope you feel able to get in touch with the Crisis Single Point of Access Manager directly.

Nonie Fennell-Kelly
Crisis Single Point of Access Manager
Tel: 020 3317 6333

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