The island's Adult Mental Health Service has 307 fulltime positions - 46 of which are currently vacant. Credit: PA Images
Staff shortages in Jersey's mental health services mean people are having to reach crisis point before they can access help, according to the charity Focus On Mental Illness.
The island's Adult Mental Health Service has 307 fulltime positions - 46 of which are currently vacant - equating to more than one in seven.
The charity says the shortages mean staff are having to assess who is more in need of support, while those deemed better off are put further down the pile.
Liz Kendrick-Lodge heads up the charity Focus On Mental Illness. Credit: ITV Channel TV
She added that the charity had seen several long-serving staff leave the service in the past year and urged the government to acknowledge that there was a problem.
Michelle Crespel has been accessing the service for eight years. While she praised staff, she said they did not have adequate support around them to be able to deliver the service they wanted to, and that more locums were being used to plug holes which had a detrimental impact on service users.
Michelle Crespel has been accessing the service for eight years. Credit: ITV Channel TV
Another service user, Luke Canavan, who has schizophrenia says people with mental illness are not being seen soon enough.
Luke Canavan, who has schizophrenia, says people with mental illness are not being seen soon enough. Credit: ITV Channel TV
His own mental illness first manifested as delusions and false beliefs.
He added he wanted the government to listen to service users.
ITV has approached the government for comment and is waiting on a response.
