Families fight for review of mental health services
Petition launched for ‘urgent’reform
Families devastated by suicide have united to call for a full review of Scotland’s mental health services, insisting their loved ones were failed by the system.
Karen McKeown, whose partner took his own life, is driving the campaign for better crisis support with the backing of scores of others who claim their relatives died needlessly.
The mum- of- two has lodged a petition with the Scottish Parliament and won the support of MSPs - with Scottish Labour’s Monica Lennon saying urgent reform is a “matter of life and death” for thousands.
Karen said: “I campaigned for a review of mental health services in 2018 but the petitions committee said the government was taking significant steps to fix everything we said needed fixed.
“In 2021, I don’t feel like anything has changed.
“If they’re not going to listen to me this time, maybe they will listen to us all. There’s power in numbers.”
Karen, 33, was left shattered when the father of her two children, Luke Henderson, hanged himself at home in Bellshill, Lanarkshire in 2017 after contacting health services eight times in six days before he died.
She said: “When Luke died I was just so angry and focused on doing something to make a difference. I didn’t want to be sitting years down the line with my own son or daughter asking for help and being turned away.
“For many of these families, their loved ones asked for help before they died.
“There just isn’t enough crisis support. We want to know our loved ones haven’t died in vain.”
Charlotte McFarlane found her son Andrew, 31, dead in his flat in Bishopton, in November 2018 after 17 years of torment.
The mum had lost her grandfather to suicide more than 30 years ago and has since seen many of her close family struggle with mental health.
Andrew’s problems began at the age of 17 and he was put on a cocktail of powerful medication in the years that followed.
Charlotte, 51, said: “The amount of drugs he was taking was unbelievable.
“He used to say the army was outside looking for him. I lived this every single day for 17 years. It was just horrific. He reached the point where he had just had enough.
“When I went to his flat that day the dog was howling at the window and I just knew.”
The mum says she repeatedly begged for help for her son.
She said: “There are closed doors everywhere you go. It feels like you’ve got to stand back and watch your child die.”
Minister for Mental Health Clare Haughey has met with Karen to discuss the petition.
Scottish Labour’s former health and social care spokeswoman, Monica Lennon, is also backing it.
She said: “Even before the pandemic, waiting times for mental health support were disgracefully long and thousands of people fell through the cracks.
“People in a mental health crisis need urgent intervention, and in too many cases the system is failing them. It really is a matter of life and death.
“Mental health services in Scotland are not fit for purpose and need urgent reform. Scottish ministers must take action, and I would urge everyone to read and support Karen’s petition.”
Kevin Stewart MSP, Wellbeing and Social Care Minister, added: “Every suicide is a tragedy with far reaching effects on those left behind. It is important for people to know there is help available.”
Anyone in need of support should contact their GP or call the NHS 24 helpline.
Help is also available online through NHS Inform, the Samaritans and Breathing Space websites.