Children who have self-harmed or even attempted to take their own lives are waiting more than three years to access specialist mental health services in one part of Wales, a new report claims. The South Glamorgan Community Health Council, an independent watchdog, asked patients and their families to share their experiences of mental healthcare in Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
In total they received 74 completed responses, many of whom reported a negative experience. When it came to child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS), there were several serious complaints about the length of waiting times.
One respondent said: "Very poor service. The waiting times are ridiculous. My daughter attempted suicide in April 2019. To this day (March 2022) she is still on a waiting list to be neurologically assessed. If I hadn't made sacrifices to pay for private counselling I hate to think where we'd be today."
Read more: 'Active' 11-year-old diagnosed with leukaemia after mum spotted two telltale signs
Another added: "Awful. Most stressful time and waiting three and a half years for an appointment hasn't helped (still waiting). Filled the same forms out over and over. Even before Covid it was a nightmare getting an appointment. There's nowhere else to go so have to wait for appointment."
Similarly people also criticised the mental health crisis teams at Cardiff and Vale UHB. One person stated: "My son attempted suicide twice within a two-week period. He discharged himself from the crisis team but I do not believe he was in the right frame of mind to be allowed to do so. No continuation of care, he was discharged from A&E after receiving treatment but was left with no medication and this is still the case. The responsibility has been left to me to organise and no one returns my calls. This is both deeply stressful on us both and also, in my mind, irresponsible and a risk to his safety."
Adult community mental health teams (CMHT), which are located in both Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, were given a slightly more positive assessment from those who responded. One person said: "Since being referred to Pentwyn mental health centre in 2019 I have had a range of experiences over the years.
"Once I built a relationship up with the staff at Pentwyn I found it easier to become more open as I felt like they really took the time to understand me and my difficulties and most of all listen. I have been going through the worst time of my life last year through to this year and without Pentwyn and the north crisis team I would not be alive today. They have given me the time, support, courage, and hope needed to get me through and for that I will forever be thankful."
However for CMHTs in the Vale of Glamorgan, as well as some specific parts of Cardiff, the feedback was more negative. One said: "It is so obvious that they are completely overwhelmed and understaffed. I was discharged on Monday even after begging for more help. My community psychiatric nurse (CPN) told me she has 40 patients so it appears to be a case of: 'Who can we discharge next?'. I wasn’t ready and I'm not better at all. I've had no choice but to seek out private therapy which is leading to me being in a lot of debt but I genuinely have no choice."
When it came to hospital care praise was given to the eating disorder specialist outpatient treatment service in the report. One person said: "Support and treatment is like gold dust. I wholeheartedly feel like [name removed] saved my life and helped me realise I was worth living for. It's a really special clinic and I wish I could have been seen so many years ago instead of struggling."
However not everyone has had the same experience of receiving treatment at a hospital setting. "Staff were amazing, understanding, and helpful. My criticism is that higher management were less understanding, unwilling to take risk when necessary. For example when patient was very depressed and suicidal they would not facilitate them seeing family at times," one respondent stated.
Local GPs can often be the first port of call for receiving mental health support but once again the majority of responses were negative. One said: "I don't feel I have had adequate care for my mental health at this surgery. It took me to take an overdose and diagnosis from a friend to get the help I needed." Another added: "I waited five days for a phone call. When the phone call finally came I was told that if I wasn't actively trying to commit suicide that day I couldn’t be helped. They offered to put me on a waiting list for what sounded like generic cognitive behaviour therapy. I felt like if I wanted to be taken seriously then I should then in fact harm myself."
South Glamorgan Community Health Council said several main themes emerged from the report including the general lack of service being provided, lack of communication, lack of staff, and lack of contact with professionals which has resulted in them going private. "In some instances respondents have made reference to the fact that some healthcare professionals may not take them seriously until they did something that could potentially harm them. For example in one of the experiences shared it was mentioned how one daughter actually started to harm herself before anyone would help her," the report stated.
"In some responses people were understanding of the shortage of staff and emphasised the need to employ more healthcare staff in order to meet the needs of those coming into mental health services and responding in time before anything bad happens to anyone." It concluded: "Individuals with mental health problems need solutions in the present moment but these waiting times make it almost impossible to do so."
In response a spokesman for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: "The attached report has been shared with the health board in the last 24 hours. We welcome feedback from people who use our services.
"We will act in line with our usual governance arrangements and respond in detail to the report following due consideration. We would like to extend our appreciation to the 74 people who kindly responded to the Community Health Council. The primary and secondary care services care for thousands of people through the many services considered in the report."
READ NEXT
- Health boards across Wales confirm which services will be affected by the Queen's funeral
Doctor explains what King Charles' swollen fingers say about his health
'My son died 20 years ago and I've finally had an apology from the hospital'
Wales has the lowest Covid infection rate of any UK nation by some distance
