Reflections on World Mental Health Day
In Blackpool South, healthy life expectancy is the lowest in the country for both men and women – around 10 years below the average in England.
Labour peer and academic surgeon Lord Darzi recently undertook a rapid investigation of the state of the NHS, assessing patient access, quality of care and the overall performance of the health system. He pointed out that people who live in the most deprived areas of England are twice as likely to wait more than a year for non-urgent treatment.
These problems are compounded by poor-quality housing, low income and insecure employment which are particularly pronounced in Blackpool. They are evident in the casework I receive. One man, whose son got in touch with me recently, has been waiting years for a simple hernia operation. The impact on his mental health had led the son to fearing his father would take his own life.
Physical health inequalities contribute to poor mental health and the crisis surrounding it. Chris Witty’s 2021 report on health in coastal communities detailed the alarmingly high rates of diagnosed severe mental illness in Blackpool. There were over 500 hospital admissions for intentional self-harm in Blackpool in 2018-19 and suicide rates among men were the second highest in the country. In 2022-23 the prevalence of GP diagnosed depression here was the highest in the country, at 21.6 per cent of the population. 3,000 people in my home town have a severe mental illness.
As if these figures weren’t alarming enough, further details from Lord Darzi’s report should give us all pause. He describes how mental health patients are being accommodated in Victoria era cells infested with vermin, where 17 men share two showers.
I welcome the government's plans to modernise the Mental Health Act and provide safeguards to ensure dignity and respect for all patients.
I recently had the opportunity to meet with staff and patients at The Harbour. This modern mental health hospital has fantastic facilities and I witnessed the positive impact it has on the lives of its patients. But the 154 bed facility is hugely oversubscribed and patients are routinely sent hundreds of miles away to receive hospital treatment, putting undue pressure and stress on them and their families.
The lack of mental health beds has a knock on effect on Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s Emergency Department – a 60 person facility that has held up to 188 patients at one time, waiting up to 50 hours to be seen.
I would like to pay my respects to the family of Jamie Pearson, the 27-year-old Blackpool man who tragically took his own life in a hospital toilet in August, after waiting nearly 24 hours to see a mental health worker in A&E. Jamie was in a mental health crisis but got himself to what should have been a place of safety. He was badly failed and I am truly sorry.
Most mental health patients should be treated in the community but Lord Darzi’s report tells us that, as of June 2024, more than 1 million people are waiting to access community services nationally. 50,000 of them have been waiting over a year, and 80 per cent of them are children and young people. These wait times have been normalised but they can mean the difference between life and death.
“Empowering charities like this to expand their work, rather than relying on the private sector to plug the gap in the NHS, is a great model that will enable us to put money back into the community rather than into the pockets of private providers ”
Hospital admissions for children with mental health problems in Blackpool are around 60 per cent higher than the national average. Desperate parents regularly contact me. One mother described how her 14-year-old daughter has tried to take her life by overdose three times in four months. The minimal support they have had has been hard fought for, inconsistent and incohesive. The family are on constant high alert in case their daughter tries to take her own life again. As a new parent, I can’t comprehend how they must be feeling day to day.
The previous government scrapped the ten-year Mental Health Plan and failed to recognise the importance of protecting the mental wellbeing of our communities. I am pleased that this government will prioritise mental health and take action to reduce waiting times, while focussing on prevention and improving provision.
I would urge the government to look at the model used by Blackpool’s Counselling in the Community – the award-winning charity I had the immense privilege to lead as Chair of Trustees for the last 4 years. Led by our incredible founder and CEO Stuart Hutton-Brown, it uses the skills of trainee counsellors, giving them invaluable career experience while acting as a lifeline for its service users.
The purpose is to make counselling accessible to all and thanks to a team of incredible volunteers local residents can be seen in a matter of weeks – not years like in our local NHS services. I’m looking forward to joining them all this Friday at the Shine Bright Awards in the famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
Empowering charities like this to expand their work, rather than relying on the private sector to plug the gap in the NHS, is a great model that will enable us to put money back into the community rather than into the pockets of private providers and offers better value for money.
There is clearly much work to be done and Lord Darzi has pointed out that the first step to rebuilding public trust and confidence in the NHS is to be completely honest about where it stands. These problems are distilled in Blackpool, and I am encouraged by the government’s recognition of this.
The Secretary of State for Health knows from our previous conversations this is a top priority for me and I know his department is prepared to face up to the scale of its challenges.
Sadly in Blackpool though, they are all too apparent.
If you are in a mental health crisis call 111 and select the mental health option, request an emergency appointment with your GP, or attend the Urgent Mental Health Assessment Unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Whinney Heys Road, FY3 8NR.
Contact Counselling in the Community for affordable or free counselling services.
Visit: counsellinginthecommunity.com / Call 0808 1963483
Visit Blackpool Light Lounge for daily drop-in services in a welcoming and non-judgmental environment for individuals struggling socially and emotionally.
259 Whitegate Drive, FY3 9JL / Call: 01253 713277
