To think he should be fired, at the very least? TRIGGER WARNING SUICIDE

[BBCNewsRave]

Young woman killed herself after trying to get mental health help...

"Mandy Park’s distraught pleas were not only ignored by a mental health worker – but ridiculed.
Her daughter Hannah Groves was labelled an “attention seeker” and a “f*ing waste of space”.
Hours later she was found dead at home"
...
"The Health Care Professions Council ruled the insults about Hannah were ­“undoubtedly spoken” but failed to prove the case against a named social ­worker."

I don't understand. If the insults were definitely spoken then why aren't they firing the social worker? In fact I think they should be given many, many hours of community service and never allowed to work in a professional role again. These people ruin lives, they should be punished severely.

I know I'm not the only one here whos experienced this kind of mistreatment, but for it to go to court and still let this evil person near vulnerable people - WTF?

(Another linky.)

[acquiescence]

This is very sad. If there was sufficient evidence to show that this happened then the worker would lose their job. This is what the HCPC exists for. Unfortunately there must have been insufficient evidence for this to happen. For example- the social worker in question may have spoken these words but may not have been actually working with Hannah at this time.

I'm sorry you have had bad experiences. As a mental health professional it is shocking to hear this kind of thing reported. Mistakes are made but in my experience it is generally due to insufficient funding and staffing rather than nastiness and neglect.

[Awwlookatmybabyspider]

YADNBU. That's an absolute disgrace. That arse hole wants to try entering the 21st century. You can't just shake mental illness off.
Poor girl probsby felt so down trodden. That she really did feel like a waste of space. I wouldn't mind betting that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
WTF is £260,000. She doesn't want money. She wanted someone to listen to her daughter. All the money in the world cannot replace a life.

[BillSykesDog]

'Fucking waste of space'. Not nastiness?

[acquiescence]

BillSykes I was highlighting that this WAS nastiness and that this is unusual (fortunately).

[BBCNewsRave]

Aquiescence IME there are certain people they are quite happy to write off. Although I haven't experienced anything as blatent as this incident for many years, I have MH issues now to do with the awful experiences I had in the past when I sought help over a decade ago. This sort of thing was common for me then, despite there being funding around. I do feel like an utter waste of space myself and it's just awful that when I asked for help I was made to feel worse. At the same time, other people were welcomed inot the service and treated kindly. Now although the blatent bullying of certain patients isn't there, there also isn't any money to treat us.
People like this social worker ruined my life and I still have flashbacks, they should have their lives ruined too. And people like me should be allowed treatment to come to terms with what was done to us.

Unfortunately there must have been insufficient evidence for this to happen. For example- the social worker in question may have spoken these words but may not have been actually working with Hannah at this time.

Why does it matter? Any social worker with such a disgusting attitude should be fired. Not to mention the neglect!

[BBCNewsRave]

Aquiescence I hope you realise my anger comes from pain and is not directed at you.
Most professionals don't understand that - they seem to have very fragile egos and get all huffy if you mention any bad experiences, which makes is impossible to get adequate help to heal, and in fact makes one feel all the more alone and oppressed.
I just cannot understand why such people are allowed near the vulnerable. They seem to be like any other bullies - they pick out the weakest and attack.

[kali110]

Fucking arsehole does not deserve to keep their job.
Just a shame they haven't named the social worker, i'd certainly like to know if one of my friends had said something like that about a girl with mental health problems
Poor mom, she has nothing to feel guitly about.
The mental health help in this country is a joke.

[Chocolatethief]

Last month after an attempt the social worker that assessed me said I was trying to get myself sectioned, I tried telling my care coordinator and she wasnt even fussed. Mental health at the moment are awful

[myoriginal3]

I can't access either of the links as the Mirror is now subscription only I think and that ain't one I'll be subscribing to.
I believe this.
I was a mental health patient and a court wouldn't have believed what went on.
A court might believe but it's very difficult to prove in a mental health setting. Privacy you see!
The problem is proof. I hope to never againg see the inside of a mental health hospital in my lifetime.
Complain? HAHA

[MammaTJ]

I cannot access the link but will just say, people who are attention seeking, maybe just need some attention. That is not a bad thing, just a recognition of the facts!

[SharkiraSharkira]

Ya so nbu OP, this is truly awful but sadly not all that unsurprising given my own experiences with them.

Poor girl, she was so young

[MarcelineTheVampire]

This is tragic and regrettably, I'm not surprised. Funding for mental health has been cut to an inch of its life and is so woefully underfunded.

That social worker is a twat of the highest order...I really do hope that they are fired and are reminded that their negligence and diabolical attitude led to that poor girls death.

My friend used to work with people with mental health issues and how some of them were treated by social services is criminal- but no one is interested.

This government has been at the forefront of fucking over the vulnerable and I'm so sad about the state of the country at the moment.

[INeedToDoThis]

I was sent to walk home from hospital at 3am following a suicide attempt when I was younger. I lived alone and I got not even a call from the crisis team the following day because the discharging nurse had said she felt I was out of "actual" danger despite my expressing that I didn't want to exist anymore. A friend came over the following morning to see if I needed shopping and stayed when she saw the state I was in, I have no doubt she saved my life.
What happened to this poor girl disgusts me, but it doesn't surprise me. I've come across so many poor attitudes in MH services but I honestly don't know the solution as they are so short staffed I don't know that firing them would improve the situation for others.

[CanaryFish]

My heart goes out to the ones in the links and every person who's posted of their similar treatment here. I am so so sorry you had to experience that.
People can be awful

[BBCNewsRave]

I'm a bit tired of the old "funding has been cut" excuse. Yes, I know the situation is diabolical wrt funding, but this stuff was happening - and IME more prevalent - 10-15+ years ago, before the cuts. Funding cuts just mean no services, no bullying staff.

[BBCNewsRave]

Draylon, this social worker called her a fucking waste of space. That's nothing to do with funding; it's the social workers disgusting attitude.

I used to work in care, for a lot less money than a social worker gets. Despite being rushed off my feet, I never once referred to a service user in such a derogatory, disgusting way.

[Broken11Girl]

Awful.
Cuts, while of course a problem, are no excuse for this kind of nasty behaviour and utter lack of empathy.

[BBCNewsRave]

If you bothered to read my posts, Draylon, you'd know that (1) they did this even when there was more funding, and (2) they ruin lives, including my own, when they are actively harmful to service users. In my own case, I currently experience sod all help from MH services. This is better than the situation previously, where I tried to get help and experienced things that actually made me more unwell and traumatised me. I would actually be in a significantly better position if I'd never approached them for help in the first place.
Making patients iller is worse than simply not treating them.

[Primaryteach87]

I can understand why as a social worker you would feel overstretched, stressed and fed up. But I'm sure any decent social worker (I have an number of friends who are) would never be so completely lacking in compassion. I agree OP they should absolutely lose their job.

[Chocolatethief]

Cuts are a massive issue in mental health care however cuts dont force social workers to say what they do say to people, yes its hard for them and they are being stretched more than they should be however that is not an excuse for how they act.

[BBCNewsRave]

WTF is wrong with you Draylon? Why aren't you reading what I've actually written?
I know funding cuts are real. As I wrote in my post - I know the situation is diabolical wrt funding, but this stuff was happening - and IME more prevalent - 10-15+ years ago, before the cuts.
I am tired of cuts being wheeled out as an excuse when this stuff was happening - and in fact worse - previously. How many times do I need to write it before you understand?

[LookAtTheFlowersKerry]

I've had a similar experience. Six or seven attempts (not sure) over a period of a couple of years. Each and every time I was assessed and sent home despite saying I was going to try again. At one point I was begging to be admitted because I felt so unsafe.

Because I have a husband and kids who were deemed protective factors I was always patched up and sent home. It's sheer luck that none of my attempts were successful. My last overdose was massive and I'm lucky to be here, I spent nearly two weeks in hospital on a general ward recovering. But they still said I didn't need inpatient treatment and were quite open about the fact there were no beds anyway.

Fortunately I've had great care as an outpatient, but there was a two month gap between my first attempt and any contact from MH services. I made another attempt before they finally got round to allocating me a cpn and offering therapy.

It's fucked up.