Take a stand for those with mental health issues

I read with interest about the lady with mental health issues concerning Burnley hospital.
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I have been a regular visitor to the psychiatric wing over the last five years. My daughter, who is not there now, has suffered from schizophrenia since she was 17. She is now 45 and has been in and out, sectioned and sectioned most of her life, all over the UK.

While I visited her in Burnley, I saw some things that were unacceptable towards the ladies on the ward. I have a family friend, a gentleman aged 40, who self-harms. He went into the unit hoping to get help as a voluntary patient/client. He stayed for three weeks telling staff he was suicidal. They discharged him with no medication, not knowing what was wrong.

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I wrote to Heather Tierney Moore, head of East Lancs Mental Health, about my concerns. I did get a positive reply and things changed for a while. Now reading your article about the lady referred to in your paper it seems that more changes are needed.

My daughter is fortunate in that I am 70 years old, a retired psychiatric nurse of 49 years and know the Mental Health Act.

I urge all carers and relatives of people who are mentally ill to make a stand for them as sometimes they have no-one else. The lady in the article should not be frightened to be re-admitted. I think this is shocking.

Mrs E. M. Smith

Marsden Crescent

Nelson

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