Long wait led to suicide bids

Sep 28 2007 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

A FATHER-of-five was driven to attempt suicide twice during a two-and-a-half year wait to see a psychologist.

Paul Davidson, of Wardley, Gateshead, has spoken out after The Journal revealed on Wednesday that some mental health patients in the region were waiting up to three years for treatment.

He said he was twice pulled from the Tyne Bridge by police as he tried to take his own life while waiting for psychological help.

The 50-year-old had become desperate for help as he was suicidal and suffered hallucinations after losing his baby son to a rare genetic disorder.

The mental health campaigner believes counselling offered by voluntary organisation Mind saved his life.

The former miner is highlighting the services from the voluntary sector as some patients are facing waits of up to three years to access psychology services in the North-East.

The delays, reported in the board papers for Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, are leaving some people suffering mental illness without immediate therapy.

Mr Davidson, member of the Gateshead Mental Health User Forum, said: “I was absolutely desperate for help. So desperate I felt I had to die. No one was listening. No understood. Being put in touch with Mind was a truly lifesaving event.”

The father, of Whitemere Gardens, has a history of depression and anxiety which worsened after he lost his seven-month-old son in 1998.

The trauma and grief took their toll and he became suicidal and suffered hallucinations. “They were terrifying thoughts I couldn’t get rid of,” he said. “I was so traumatised and didn’t know where to turn.”

He was prescribed anti-depressants by his GP and visited a psychotherapist, which he says did not help.

Growing increasingly ill, he called a care co-ordinator at a mental health hospital on the advice of Mind in desperation and asked to see a psychologist.

He saw one within six months for an initial appointment but was told he would have to wait three-and-a-half years for treatment with a psychologist ‘take it or leave it’.

During 2004, he twice attempted to jump from the Tyne Bridge to take his own life. He eventually turned to Pathways in Gateshead, who he says wrote to the trust and he saw a psychologist two-and-a-half years after his initial appointment for therapy in 2006.

He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and underwent 15 sessions of counselling and a change to his anti-depressants.

The Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Service User and Carer Network member hopes to reassure anyone in his position that there are voluntary organisations who can offer vital support.

Sharon Stuart, chief officer of Gateshead Mind, said: “We are well aware of the waiting times being highlighted, and the awful impact these waits can have on the person and their family.”

Current national Government policy has recognised that preventative interventions need to be more readily available, she said.

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Errors in figures

A SPOKESWOMAN for Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust said figures quoted in board papers did not reflect the true picture of waiting times for services.

She said: “Following the merger which created Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust (NTW) last year we inherited a number of different systems and processes for collecting data, and as we streamline those systems we have discovered a number of errors. For example, the figures reported wrongly included those for services not provided by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust.”

She said work was being done to correct data errors. There were areas where no one was waiting for psychological therapies, but she said the trust was not complacent because “there are pockets where waiting times are not what we would want them to be, and we are working closely with our service commissioners to address those areas.”