Shock at lack of mental health help after attack

THE STEPFATHER of Martyn Hett has said he was ‘shocked’ by the lack of timely mental health support after the Manchester Arena bombing.

Dr Stuart Murray claimed people caught up in such atrocities aren’t getting help soon enough.

As part of the Survivors Against Terror group, he is calling on people to be assessed within three weeks, and begin receiving treatment within six. He said those dealing with being caught up in a terror attack should receive prioritised support and not be subjected to a ‘postcode lottery’.

Dr Murray, a GP, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Our early experience was - there was a moment in the car when I was shouting and screaming and saying ‘how ridiculous this is that I’m having to pay privately to get the help for family members’.

“There was a guilt feeling that I was saying that, because they just needed the help, but thinking about how other people might be managing, and feeling embarrassed as a working GP, that this is the reality of the situation.”

Martyn’s mother Figen Murray has campaigned tirelessly in support of Martyn’s Law, which would mean venues having a legal duty to provide specific terror attack security plans.

Her proposal received a boost as it was included in the Queen’s Speech. Dr Murray, an NHS doctor, said there is a long way to go to offer mental health support to those affected.

He added: “I think we were quite shocked holes exist still after the many attacks in the access and provision of mental health services. What it means is people aren’t getting timely treatment that they should do, and that they’re suffering for weeks and months

- sometimes years before they can get the help they need.”