"Becklin centre, chapel allerton police, section 136"

Dear Sheepmouse,

From this posting and your previous correspondence it is clear that your life is difficult at the moment and at times you are feeling desperate. On both occasions it appears that other people were worried about your well being and acted in an attempt to help you.

I am Guy Brookes, Associate Medical Director in Leeds and York Partnership NHS Trust. I work with Jeanette Lawson (who responded to your earlier posting) to provide effective services that help to meet the mental health needs of people in Leeds.

The police use their powers given under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act to ensure that people are assessed by mental health professionals if they think the person is in need. I can only assume that when you attended the police station, there was something in your manner that made the police concerned for your welfare.

At the Becklin Centre you will have been assessed by mental health professionals to understand your needs and offer appropriate care. Unfortunately it is not possible to comment on this further without more information, which is understandably not appropriate for you to provide on this site.

I would agree with Jeanette’s comments that in order for people to respond to you in a way that you would find more helpful they require a better understanding of your needs and wishes. I’m sure that our services can help you to communicate this but we would need to know you better ourselves to do so. I would therefore reinforce Jeanette’s suggestion that you contact us through our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on 0800 0525790 or pals.lypft@nhs.net.

Professionals within our services are used to working with people when they are distressed and feeling in great need. At such times they do their best to help in a compassionate way. In providing this service, we have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the people they are trying to help, the safety of others using the service and the safety of our staff.

We take this duty very seriously and therefore cannot allow people to carry weapons or items that can readily be used as weapons. I understand that people might do this because, for example, they feel frightened but rather than condone this, we make a commitment to work with people to reduce these feelings of fear.

Having said that it is important for us to try to work with you in a therapeutic way and I would encourage you to make contact with our service through PALS.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Guy Brookes

Associate Medical Director

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust