"Poor Practice"

Two friends had taken me to A&E because I was experiencing really low mood and had plans to end my life that evening and they felt unable to cope and keep me safe. When I was initially seen and asked by I had come to A&E the nurse asked me why I was there if I wanted to die, and what I wanted from being there. This was unhelpful and only fueled my ambitions as well as reducing the little hope I felt. After several hours waiting I was assessed by a mental health nurse. I don't really remember a lot of that meeting and rely on my two friends who came in with me to tell me the smaller details. One bit I do remember distinctly is at the end. My friends had asked on several occasions if I could be admitted. The nurse went for sometime to discuss this with her team. She came back and that they didn't have enough room and she thought think it would be pretty likely that they would be writing a coroners report in the morning but that I would have to go home". I remember this because I understood it as a positive thing - I could be free to act as I wished but my friends received it very differently. Now, thanks to other excellent professionals I have recovered sufficiently to be able to see how appalling such comments are. I, friends and family have been told so many times hat I should go to A&E if I am experiencing an acute episode outside the hours of the GP.

After several similar experiences I am put off. It has been some time since I have visited A&E without a high level of persuasion or an element of mild physical force on behalf of friends or family.

I just can't understand why some 'professionals' feel it is appropriate to speak to someone experiencing mental illness like that - would they speak to someone who was as unwell as a result of a physical illness? I can't imagine a nurse questioning or sending a patient home despite there being a risk to their life. Having no beds is not an excuse. Would it be acceptable to send someone home with an open fracture because there was no beds?