Call for action on mental health

REVIEW: Nicola Sturgeon asked to intervene during FMQS

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been asked to intervene over NHS Tayside’s failure to block further centralisation of the region’s mental health services in Dundee.

The call was made in the Scottish Parliament yesterday after critics claimed local health bosses had not acted on a recommendation from Dr David Strang, who has been conducting a review of the system.

The independent inquiry has yet to publish its final report but in his interim findings he cautioned against moves to centralise services at the Carseview unit in Dundee.

However, Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership, which is responsible for mental health services in Tayside, has said suspending the plans would “introduce risks to patient safety and compromise clinical care” and it had determined that the redesign should continue in the meantime.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard quoted campaigner Gillian Murray, whose uncle David Ramsay took his life in 2016 after he was refused help by mental health services, during First Minister’s Questions.

She said: “NHS Tayside refuses to listen and refuses to change. It is just business as usual and it is getting worse.”

Ms Sturgeon said she expected health boards across Scotland to listen to and take on recommendations put to them by independent inquiries and instructed Health Secretary Jeanne Freeman to meet the families involved.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she fully expects NHS Tayside to take on the recommendations of a mental health report which are currently being “ignored”.

Labour leader Richard Leonard raised the concerns of family members and the lead consultant involved in the independent review of mental health services in Tayside during first minister’s questions.

Dr David Strang, who chaired the report, made a single recommendation that services across Tayside should not be centralised.

The Courier reported earlier this week that the health board had effectively ignored Dr Strang’s plea and was carrying on with plans to bring them together in Dundee.

Mr Leonard said: “Not only has NHS Tayside failed to carry out that review. Worse still, the board is pressing ahead with the centralisation of services.

“This is an independent inquiry set up because of the deep concerns of families who have lost their loved ones through suicide. Why is there no urgency?

“And why is the sole recommendation so far of this independent inquiry being wilfully ignored?”

Ms Sturgeon said: “Let me be very clear, when an independent inquiry makes recommendations, it’s the expectation of me and of the Scottish Government they are fully taken account of by NHS boards and I would expect NHS Tayside to take account of the recommendations made by David Strang.

“It is my expectation health boards properly take account of recommendations like this one in the decision-making processes that they are required to undertake.

“I will certainly consider carefully the points that were raised by Richard Leonard today.

“It’s important that we listen to the lived experience of patients and of their relatives, and to do that in good faith and in all sincerity.”

She said Health Secretary Jeane Freeman will meet relatives who called for the initial inquiry.

Dr David Strang, who is finalising his study of local mental health services, has spoken of his frustration that his call for a wider, more comprehensive review has not been heeded.

He was appointed to lead an independent inquiry after pressure from families who claimed their loved ones had taken their own lives over issues at the Carseview unit in Dundee.

Gordon Paterson, chief officer of the Perth and Kinross Health and Social Care Partnership, which is responsible for mental health services, said: “The interim report of the independent inquiry made a recommendation which we have taken into account, however the IJB (integration joint board) considered the suspension of the current design programme would introduce risks to patient safety and compromise clinical care and it determined that the redesign should continue.”