Husband’s ‘hell’ trying to get help for suicidal wife
AHUSBAND says his suicidal wife has been through “absolute hell” in trying to access support for her chronic mental ill-health.
Ellis Shale, who lives in Llandaff North, Cardiff, claims his wife Cath is in urgent need of psychological help but has been turned away from hospitals.
Despite being in constant danger of harming herself, Cath’s GP said the closest available appointment for a professional psychiatrist was three weeks away.
Ellis, 27, said the problems all came to a head on October 19 when office worker Cath, 26, became “actively suicidal”.
The pair booked an emergency appointment with their GP at the North West Community Mental Health Team in Gabalfa but it was postponed until the following day.
They were told they had no other option than to visit the University Hospital of Wales’ A&E department instead.
“We ended up spending six hours in A&E in which time she’d managed to claw a small divot in her hand – and made it bleed – through anxiety,” said Ellis.
“We were eventually seen by the crisis team who said they could not hospitalise her and told us to just hold on and talk to Gabalfa the next day.”
After visiting the GP on October 20, who prescribed Cath sleeping tablets and diazepam to relieve her anxiety, they were told an appointment with a psychiatrist would be booked “as soon as possible”.
But to their shock and disappointment they were told the next available appointment was on November 9.
“From then until now nothing has been done apart from booking an appointment,” Ellis added.
“My wife has attempted to take her life twice and I’ve had to physically restrain her.
“She was taken to the mental health unit in University Hospital Llandough after the second attempt via ambulance and was assessed.
“She told them that, in no uncertain terms, she would try and harm herself if they let her go. But they sent her home.
“Since then I’ve had to follow her around the house and even hide my keys to stop her from harming herself.”
Ellis, who married Cath just over a year ago, said he hopes no other suicidal patients have to endure such difficulties in accessing care.
“The last week has been absolute hell for us and something needs to be done about the shock- ing mental health system we have.
“If you do become suicidal in Wales then there is no short-term assistance at all.”
The pair, who met when they were both students at the University of South Wales, say due to Cath’s lengthy spells off work they can no longer afford the rent on their house and will have to move to Bridgend.
“We have no choice,” added Ellis. “I am concerned this will affect Cath’s continuity of care.”
Mental health charity Mind Cymru says it wants mental health crises to be treated with the same urgency as physical health – but this shouldn’t mean a one-sizefits-all approach.
Glenn Page, senior policy and campaigns officer at Mind Cymru, said: “The impact of such long waiting times is unacceptable and cannot continue.
“While we welcome Welsh Government’s recently published Taking Wales Forward plan, which promises to prioritise mental health treatment, we need radical improvement in access to support and treatment early on.”
A spokesman for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases of patient care.
“We would encourage them to contact our concerns team if they would like to discuss any aspects of the care they are receiving.”