Anorexic hits out at ‘two-month wait’ for treatment

ASTUDENT who suffered with anorexia claimed she had to wait two months to get help and believes people “have to do something dramatic” before they are noticed by mental health services in the city.

Sana Bryant, 20, described Forward Thinking Birmingham (FTB) as ‘the worst mental health service she had been involved with’ after seeking treatment.

Ms Bryant spoke after the provider was told it must improve following a damning investigation by Healthwatch Birmingham which found people with mental health problems who reached out were waiting months to be contacted.

Patients were also said to be receiving “insufficient care or inappropriate treatment,” while some had been prematurely discharged because of poor communication.

Ms Bryant claims she waited two months before FTB arranged for her to join an eating disorder support service last year. She said there were then further problems when a doctor said her weight was not low enough to meet the criteria for the service.

The student said she was then discharged from the service when she went on holiday to see family as she had left the country.

Ms Bryant said: “I was left without anything. I got unwell over the Christmas period and lost a lot of weight. week.

“Eating disorder services did another assessment in February and put me in but by that point my health and mental health had deteriorated so much.”

The student said she had been left with the impression mental health services only intervene where someone is in a serious situation, has harmed themselves or is “on death’s door” and that there will be many others suffering in silence with their mental health.

“I would go for a long time without any contact until I was in A&E when

I was going to A&E every

It’s so apparent you have to do dramatic things for them to take notice Sana Bryant, pictured

they would call me every day. I have been in mental health services for a long time. I have never experienced a service as bad as Forward Thinking Birmingham.

“It’s so apparent you have to do dramatic things for them to take notice of you.

“They certainly didn’t make me feel like they cared.”

In a separate case, a Birmingham mother said she broke down after claiming FTB told her it was unable to help her autistic nine-year-old son, despite an attempt on his own life and several self-harming incidents.

They recommended another service but Juliet, who only wanted to give her first name, said she does not believe it was suitable for his needs.

Healthwatch Birmingham, which carried out the investigation by speaking to more than 200 children, young adults and parents about their experiences, said delays to accessing support could leave people with mental health problems “in danger”.

Service users told how they felt ignored and forgotten after being kept waiting for weeks or months for help.

FTB, which provides mental health support across the city and is run by Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust, has vowed to make improvements and bosses said an action plan had been drawn up. It also said waiting times for treatment had come down.

Alex Borg, executive director of mental health services for Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust, said: “We accept there are challenges and we are working hard to overcome them and it is important to note that things have improved in a number of areas since the experiences of some of those reflected in the report, almost half of which go back two years.

“For example, our waiting list two years ago stood at over 1,700, with young people regularly waiting over 52 weeks to begin treatment. Our waiting list today stands at 393.”