"The danger is that he will lock himself away"

My son has been receiving treatment from the Broomhill House Mental Health Clinic for several years. He suffers from schizophrenia and goes to the clinic each morning to take his medication, this way the staff at the clinic can watch him take the medicine and know that he will be all right.

Because of his condition he will not always answer the phone when I call him and so I can check that he is OK by calling the clinic.

I have heard the clinic is going to be closed in October and I’m not sure what will happen to my son and many other people the clinic treats. My son attacked his father when he failed to take his medicine and I fear that he will be violent towards other people again if his condition is not managed. I am 80 years old and managed my son for many years but can no longer do so.

It is worrying me no end. How will I know who to contact and how can I check how he is?

I don’t know if they are planning to have a nurse go to his flat to give him his medication – I don’t know how that will work as my son doesn’t always answer his door. Also, by having the daily routine of going to the clinic it was a way of getting him out and about. Without this the danger is that he will lock himself away.

People who make these decisions perhaps don’t understand the effect it will have not just on the patients at the clinic but their families also.