Quality mental health services are essential
WITH events taking place across all of Wales this summer, Welsh mental health charity Hafal’s 2018 campaign, #DeedsNotWords, is highlighting the challenges women in Wales face in accessing high-quality mental health services.
The issue is a critical one. The number of people in Wales who are currently waiting for mental health treatment has doubled in the past seven years.
Some 26% of the Welsh population are more likely to develop an enduring mental illness than other areas in the UK, despite the Welsh Government’s 2012 Together for Mental Health strategy, which highlighted the legal responsibilities health boards and local authorities have to improve support for those needing treatment.
Women are particularly affected by a lack of perinatal and eating disorder services in many areas of Wales. There is also a national scandal in Wales concerning the use of antidepressant drugs – double the number 10 years ago, vastly more than England and vastly disproportionate among women.
In recent weeks Mair Elliott, one of Hafal’s trustees and a young woman who had to travel to London for specialist treatment for her illness, spoke to ITV News about her own experiences of the challenges this brings.
Mair told ITV: “There weren’t any beds in Wales, so I spent three-and-a-half months in an inpatient unit in London. There are no specialist inpatient beds for eating disorders in Wales, and so if someone were to require eating disorder treatment they would have to go across the border to England.”
Due to budget cuts and the rising costs of providing services for healthcare providers, it has long been practice to send patients across the border to receive care appropriate to their needs.
However, Hafal members know from experience that travelling long distances for treatment can have a detrimental effect on both the patient and their family and/ or carers.
Admission to hospital can be a daunting experience for anyone; add to that the stress and anxiety frequently experienced by people with a mental disorder, and this can turn into an intimidating experience with no prospect of regular contact or support from their family and friends.
One of the biggest challenges for healthcare providers is to find the most suitable and appropriate package for those who require recovery-focused care.
Admission to traditional mental health inpatient units in itself is often unhelpful to recovery as the lack of occupational therapists and clinical psychologists does not encourage a therapeutic environment, and the necessity for a safety-focused, risk-averse environment rarely breaks negative cycles of behaviour.
As a member-led charity, Hafal has a strong recovery ethos.
With input from our members and specialist consultants, we have developed a dedicated inpatient recovery facility just outside Swansea – Gellinudd Recovery Centre.
We were determined to develop a hospital where people would be empowered to plan their own future with guidance and support from appropriately-trained staff to enable them to move on and flourish as soon as they are ready, equipped and supported to continue to work towards recovery.
The centre was actually opened in early 2017 by Health Minister Vaughan Gething and has already gained an international award for best practice.
It is recognised as the only facility of its kind in the UK.
The recovery centre team consists of a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, occupational therapist, registered mental health and general trained nurses, recovery practitioners, peer support workers and a Mental Health Act department.
The centre runs by co-production – “guests” and staff working together in a therapeutic environment to aid individuals meet their goals and develop the service.
When ITV visited Gellinudd, the presenter observed that the centre feels more like a hotel than a hospital.
And yet at this progressive, award-winning centre, only five of the 16 beds are in use. Currently the referral process to the centre is often drawn-out, which results in many of the beds being left empty.
ITV News asked Vaughan Gething why beds in Hafal’s specialist facility in Wales were empty and why people were still being made to travel far from home to receive treatment.
Hafal has received excellent support from the Welsh Government in the development of Gellinudd Recovery Centre, but what patients in Wales need to see now is the NHS in Wales using these beds to reduce the challenges that Mair and others in Wales face in trying to access high-quality mental health services in their own country.
■ Jane Jannotti is development consultant at mental health charity Hafal’s Gellinudd Recovery Centre