Post code lottery for access to psychiatrists in the UK
- 13.09.2017
- EmmaArnold
- Clinical-negligence, Clinical-negligence, Clinical-negligence, Clinical-negligence
People with a severe mental illness are being let down by the huge discrepancies in consultant psychiatrist numbers across the country.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists say there are not enough NHS psychiatrists in some parts of the UK and more should be recruited to improve care.
This comes after a recent figure revealed a huge discrepancy in the number of consultant psychiatrists per 100,000 people across the UK.
Areas such as London and the north-east of England have more than 11 psychiatrists per 100,000 people but the south-west has six and Yorkshire five. In Scotland, there are 10 consultant psychiatrists per 100,000 people but only eight in Northern Ireland, and just six in Wales.
Prof Wendy Burn, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said:
People with a severe mental illness should expect to see a specialist consultant, just as you would for a severe physical illness. The huge variation in consultant psychiatrists across the country means reality is increasingly falling short of our expectations.
As highly skilled medics, psychiatrists must be able to spot the nuance in symptoms, ask the right questions, and understand what the problem is. Without psychiatrists to lead specialist mental health teams we cannot deliver the high-quality care that our patients deserve.
Here at Potter Rees Dolan we see first-hand how the lack of access to appropriate and specialist psychiatric care can adversely impact on patients and their families.
Helen Dolan, Head of Clinical Negligence at Potter Rees Dolan, said:
We have recently concluded litigation concerning the negligent failure on the part of a Trust to appropriately manage in hospital care and care following discharge which tragically, resulted in the psychiatric patient violently assaulting a family member. This is a lose-lose situation for the NHS who now have to meet the additional burden meeting the assaulted brother many needs arising from the avoidable attack
Meanwhile ministers in England and Wales have indicated a commitment to address the growing problem and implement a recruitment drive to ensure all patients, across the country, have access to suitable care.
Helen Dolan is a clinical negligence solicitor, partner and Head of the clinical negligence team here at Potter Rees Dolan. Should you have any queries about clinical negligence issues or indeed any other aspect of this article and wish to speak to Helen or any other member of the team please contact us on 0161 237 5888 or email Helen directly.