"Not well enough to go home"

I was known at my local A+E (Selly Oak, Birmingham) as a self-harmer and was not an easy patient.

However, one time I attended the A+E dept with a friend who had concussion. She had also harmed in the past but was unknown to this hospital. My friend was in a very bad way, hardly able to lift her head off the pillow and obviously concussed.

The staff however planned to send her home as her obs were OK, despite the fact she was unable to get off the bed. They would not let me or another friend stay in the cubicle with her despite the patient begging them to let us stay. When we requested a second opinion about whether the patient was fit for discharge we were refused.

Eventually after speaking to a further staff member they agreed she needed to stay overnight.