'The public should be alarmed': Psychologist slams Greater Manchester mental health provision

Families of those who develop significant mental health problems in Greater Manchester should be "alarmed", a clinical psychologist has said.

In a damning indictment of how he sees mental health services in the region Dr John Mulligan, a Unite representative who works in the early intervention service, said a lack of staff and community resources means thousands "have been provided with only short term or next to no support".

Writing for ITV Granada Reports, Dr Mulligan claimed NHS management and politicians "have some sort of obligation to speak in positive and non-alarming terms in public".

He added: "The public however should be alarmed because if your loved one develops significant mental health problems, and that can happen to any of us, then Manchester is not a good place to be living in such circumstances.

"Over the last few years, the lack of staff and community resources across Manchester has meant that thousands of people with long term mental health difficulties have been provided with only short term or next to no support."

Full blog from by Dr John Mulligan, a clinical psychologist working in the Manchester early intervention service, and Unite Representative

The unallocated hub, which much to the disappointment of our Unite and Unison union members was renamed the "waiting well service", is really just one distressing symptom of community mental health services that are unsafe and broken within Manchester.

Now you will be unlikely to hear senior NHS Management and politicians with direct responsibility for mental health ever really talk publicly and in a detailed and meaningful way about all the significant problems that exist for our patients with 'severe and enduring' mental health difficulties.

They seem to have some sort of obligation to speak in positive and non-alarming terms in public.

The public however should be alarmed because if your loved one develops significant mental health problems, and that can happen to any of us, then Manchester is not a good place to be living in such circumstances.

Over the last few years, the lack of staff and community resources across Manchester has meant that thousands of people with long term mental health difficulties have been provided with only short term or next to no support.

Our members are baffled as to why after multiple failed Care Quality Commission inspections, a MIND report into unsafe discharging of patients in 2020, a major NHS England commissioned report that came out earlier this year and with the local NHS trust being in receipt of ‘intensive support’ from NHS England since 2022, that we still have a situation where there is uncertainty about exactly how many thousands of patients have been discharged and what's happened to them over the past few years.

And for the 550 left of those thousands of unallocated patients, what's going to happen to them as they sit at home 'waiting well' without the support they need, from teams that are already bursting at the seams in terms of capacity?

What's happening right now for the mentally unwell people in Manchester who were discharged on strong medications and tell our members that opportunities to have those medications safely reduced, changed or stopped, like their efforts at accessing crisis support when needed, are severely limited.

When we talk about the 15-20 year reduced life expectancy for people with severe mental health difficulties, we have to remind ourselves of that often mentioned idea of 'first, do no harm'.

We should be doing more than just asking ourselves, what role we as service providers have in the misery and premature death of far too many of our most vulnerable members of society.

In response, Professor Manisha Kumar, chief medical officer for NHS Greater Manchester, said: “Mental health services in Greater Manchester, as across many parts of the country, are facing significant pressures, especially as demand for services has grown. Our mental health professionals continue to demonstrate incredible dedication and resilience in the face of these challenges.

“While there are many great examples in Greater Manchester of our work to respond to various mental health and wellbeing issues, we know we can do more. It’s our ambition that everyone living in Greater Manchester should have access to safe mental health care.

"We are focusing on preventing mental health problems and supporting good mental health, improving community services, and strengthening our crisis response services to avoid admission where appropriate. We are working with partners across the wider NHS, local authorities, housing providers and the voluntary sector to ensure people can receive the right care and support near to where they live.

“We are fully aware that some individuals are struggling to access timely and appropriate support, and this is an area that requires urgent attention. The impact of rising demand for services has contributed to difficulties in providing the level of care that people need. We are committed to working with our partners in health and social care to develop solutions that ensure more timely, effective support for individuals with serious mental health conditions.

“If anyone is in need of crisis mental health support, they should contact NHS 111. People of all ages, including children, can use NHS 111 and they will be supported by a trained mental health professional.”

Meanwhile, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:

“We will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health.

“We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to provide faster treatment and ensure people are appropriately discharged and given the right support.”