'A&E staff said my catatonic wife was not their priority'

Husband calls for better care for those in mental health crisis as charity reveals desperate patients turning to private sector

- REBECCA THOMAS

A man who has battled the NHS for decades to obtain mental health support for his wife was told by A&E staff she was not a priority despite being so unwell she was catatonic. Steve, a 63year-old from Hertfordshire, has been supporting his wife, who has schizophrenia, for 30 years, and has recalled the “horrific” lack of care she experienced when at her most ill.

Despite her getting into a state of catatonia and becoming a danger to herself, he says he has been told on multiple occasions that his wife was not a priority in A&E and there were no psychiatric beds available. His story comes as a poll of more than 600 people by the charity Rethink Mental Illness revealed that two-fifths of mental health patients reported being told they weren’t sick enough to access NHS care.

The charity, which supports people who suffer from severe mental illness, also found in its survey that 35 per cent of people had been told their condition was too severe to be helped. Despite the cost of living crisis, Rethink found that 35 per cent of respondents had turned to the private sector to obtain mental health support.