Inverness woman's NHS phone service idea could help save lives
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AN agonising wait for mental health support on the NHS 24 medical phone line has prompted an Inverness woman to campaign for a small change that could save lives.
Emma Roddick wants the service to add a mental health option to its telephone menu to spare desperately ill people the distress of having to answer a long list of questions before eventually, sometimes several hours later, being passed on to a psychiatric nurse.
She has launched a petition calling for mental health crises to be an option on the NHS 24 helpline. It has attracted around 2500 signatures.
The 20-year-old, who was recently diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, said the phone line that is used by people seeking medical advice when GP surgeries are closed has let her down when she needed it the most.
“I’ve had to phone in on a few occasions, or a friend has had to phone in on my behalf, when I’ve been having a crisis and it’s been quite an experience,” said Ms Roddick, who lives in Hilton.
“They’ve made it worse by taking me through all of those irrelevant questions and say a community psychiatric nurse will ring you back within two hours, and sometimes they haven’t called me back at all.”
Currently, callers with dental problems are given a straightforward choice when they call, but people calling with psychiatric conditions must work through the full menu process and then wait until their call is processed before it is referred to a dedicated section of the health service.
Ms Roddick said: “With a borderline personality disorder crisis you can’t deal with what’s going on around you. It can be quite dangerous because there’s often an element of severe depression and agitation so you really need to speak to someone who understands what a crisis is.
“I’m aware there are other phone helplines but their volunteers are not medically trained, they can help with depression but in crisis situations, where you are a danger to yourself or to others, you really need a psychiatric nurse.”
An official from NHS 24 was due to meet with Ms Roddick today.
A NHS 24 spokeswoman said: “The mental wellbeing of patients is a priority for NHS 24 and the work being undertaken to date to better understand and shape the service to support those in mental distress or with mental health difficulties will be shared with Ms Roddick.”
- To sign the petition, visit http://bit.ly/2gEHn3o
