“How many more people must die?” asks Rethink on eve of report
“How many more tragedies will be allowed to happen before mental health services listen to pleas for help?” asks mental health charity Rethink today (Wed 12 December). The question comes two days before the publication of an independent report into the care of a young man with mental illness who killed his friend.
Garry Taylor’s family pleaded for help 83 times before the 38 year old man, who had a severe mental illness, went on to kill his friend in 2004 after suspecting him of having an affair with his girlfriend.
Garry’s mother says that mental health professionals closed their ears to family pleas for help and warnings that her son could kill. She says:
“Services must listen to families. They must not make assumptions that relatives are making mountains out of molehills. If a family member says that the person is at risk of hurting someone then they must be taken seriously by mental health services, who must act immediately.”
Paul Corry, Rethink’s director of public affairs, says that tragedies can be avoided:
“Violence is not a symptom of severe mental illness and tragedies like this are thankfully rare. But one avoidable death is one too many. The government will claim that its plans to make people follow treatment in the community as well as in hospital will help, but they have dodged the one legal change that would make the greatest difference – a legal right to care and treatment when people with severe mental illness and their families demand it.”
“We hear time and time again about families struggling to get the help they need for their relative. Family members sometimes ask many times for appropriate care for their loved one, but they are not always listened to. How many more tragedies must happen before systems are put in place to ensure the care that is needed is provided?”
The independent report commissioned by North East Strategic Health Authority is due to be published on Friday December 14th.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. Garry Taylor was under the care of the South of Tyne and Wearside Mental Health NHS Trust. He had been known to mental health services since 1993.
2. He was found guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and is detained in Rampton hospital.
3. Rethink has been supporting the Taylor family since the incident.
4. Five year report of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, December 2006, found:
· 14% of homicides by people in contact with mental health services relate to service failure and could have been prevented
· The number of homicides by people with mental illness has not risen in recent years
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