Chamber and committees

Petitioner submission of 10 September 2021

PE1871/D - Full review of mental health services

On the 29th of December 2017 my world was turned upside down. I wake up early hours of the morning to find my partner Luke Henderson took his own life. Saying it was not expected would be a lie.

The weeks leading up to his death Luke was unwell. He had started having visual and audio hallucinations. At a loss of what do to, I first contact the out of hours doctor on the 22nd of December. I was given no help and told to attend A&E which we did the following day. After a very short assessment Luke was send home. We were given no help and we both felt abandoned. On the 24th of December Luke attended the community mental health team. Again, no help was giving after I express my concerns for his mental health and mind set. Over the next few days, I made many calls to out of hour GP and cpn with no success. At this point we were told Luke was told he would need to attend addiction service on the 28Th of December if he wanted any help because of past addictions issues.

At this point, I was at breaking point. Luke had not sleep for 3 weeks. Which resulted in me also not sleeping, as I was worried about his mental state and that be might try to take his own life. On the 27th of December, Luke attended A&E again. Once again, we were turned away with nothing to ease his symptoms or any practical help. I was left with no where to turn to for help and Luke couldn’t take no more pain. On the 28th of December we went to the addiction service only to find it was a paper filling exercise. We had no help or no support. On the night of the 28th of December, I fel asleep exhausted and when I woke early hour of the 29th of December, I found my partner dead.

Luke was my best friend; he was my life partner, and I cannot express the pain that losing him has caused. Since I have lost Luke, I have dedicated my life to helping change the mental health service for the better. I feel that Luke had slip through the cracks in the mental health service. He was not listened to, and I was not listened to. I knew Luke better than anyone yet when I was telling professionals my concerns I was dismissed. He was acting out of character, and I knew he was unwell. I just wish my concerns were took on board.

I feel there was no review process after Luke died to identify what meant wrong after a man repeatedly asked for help just to be turn away. I feel the support for myself any family after Luke death has been poor and we have had to turn to amazing local charities.

Mental health shows no discrimination and can happen to anyone. I am pleading with you to please call a review of the mental health service to ensure no more families feel this pain. I want to make sure no more people manage to slip through the cracks and make sure we have a fit for purpose mental health service. Luke case is not unique and why now families are coming together to call for change.