Devastated mother denounces ‘stretched’ mental health staff after her son took his life hours after being discharged

25 November 2022, 12:07

This devasted mother slams 'untrained' mental health staff

This grieving mother shared her devastating story with Nick Ferrari, condemning "low-paid" and "stretched" mental health workers after her son was sectioned and discharged from hospital without family notice, hours before he killed himself.

Deborah in Surrey explained that her 24-year-old son was sectioned in April for 28 days before being discharged “without letting any of his family know”.

“Within four hours, he’d took his life”, the grieving mother said.

This comes after Nick Ferrari instigated a conversation into mental health care in the UK after a father told LBC he fears his daughter is unsafe in a mental health unit.

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Deborah said: “Sometimes he was ok and other times he just couldn’t cope but he seemed to be getting better."

She went on to criticise the hospital's investigation, which had deemed that her son "had good care".

“How can somebody from the same hospital investigate themselves?", she added.

After Nick asked Deborah about the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), she said: “I’m not saying that the people who work in it aren’t good - it’s just they’re so stretched, they can’t do anything.”

Deborah explained that whilst in hospital, her son "just sat in his room with his hood up, not talking to anyone", adding that the mental health staff shouldn't have released him since his "withdrawn" behaviour was a "sign" that he may take his own life.

“What is it you think the hospital got wrong? What is it you would want actually to be investigated fully?” Nick asked.

“The staff just sit in the staff room and do nothing, they’re so low-paid, so demoralised and so stretched. They’re not trained”, Deborah responded.

“All they do, in the very few beds that they have, is just chuck people in for a while, give them a few drugs and then kick them out.”

“This has really obviously devastated me”, she added.

If you are experiencing any issues discussed in this article, please contact the Samaritans 24-hour helpline: 116 123