To think sectioning shouldn’t be done lightly

[User5022]

Eg used because an adult decided they didn’t want to rest of a treatment. I always assumed it had a really high threshold.

doublebarrellednurse It is the full story she has a history of overdosing but apart from that I’ve posted exactly what happened.

UglyGlassVase Have you ever lived with someone who was sectioned? People on here like me have had some shocking experiences which is why the presumption is her daughter will have been ill to have been sectioned.

I agree with @UglyGlassVase and yes, I have personal experience. Not that personal experience is relevant here.

OP I would definitely encourage your daughter to get a IMHA if she hasn't got one already. It might well be that your daughter needs to be detained and this is the best place for her. However, you have every right to question that and shouldn't be told by people that you are just in denial. Your daughter has rights under the MHA for a reason.

I have known people who needed detaining who weren't because of the high threshold but that does not mean everyone who is detained really needs it. Mistakes and poor care also happen.

I am not saying that OP's daughter should or shouldn't be detained. I do not know her, nor am I qualified to argue the case either way (and no one else here is either as they do not know her).

We should never get to the stage where we trust 100% that professionals will always make the right decisions, especially when it comes to our human rights. If there are any concerns people should be empowered to question that, they should not be shut down.

OP best wishes for you and your daughter

Does anyone on here know if my dd can see the reasons why she was sectioned written down? She’s had informal adolescent admissions in the past so this wasn’t an issue. Just thinking it might be easier for her to accept if she sees it written down.

Has her Psychiatrist not explained it ,? You can request to see your notes but it wouldn't be instant and i.think the RMO can remove things they don't think it would be helpful for a patient to see ,there will be section papers but they are
held securely and patients don't normally see them ,there should be a weekly review,which you can be invited too , and the RMO,Junior DR,s ward staff etc will discuss ongoing care your daughter will be seen and her views should be heard

Would your daughter accept the reasons she was sectioned ? Obviously I don't know what your daughters mental.state is like at present and if she has insight etc ,I do know from experience some patients who are acutely unwell lack insight and can't accept they are unwell ,wether this is the case with your daughter I don't know .

Thank you, yes I do think it may help her understand better. Will the psychiatrist be able to discharge her if she’s not had leave? Do you know if she will be able to stay with her team? It’s the same healthcare trust different towns as that’s another thing that’s causing her stress.

She should be able to stay with her team ,I worked for a huge mental.health over several towns although each town were supposed to have their own patients ( who were resident in that town) because of bed shortages patients were frequently placed on a ward outside of their town ( but within the same trust if that makes sense) patients stayed with the same CMHT though the psychiatrist can discharge her at any time regardless of whether she's had leave,but wether they will or not is another matter .

Mental.health trust*

They are saying once we’ve changed gp they will transfer her care to the the team in the other town. She will find the change of gp hard enough never mind the of cmht. I would understand their logic if it was different health care trust but you would think they would be some flexibility within the trust.

Regarding her changing cmht, this is largely to do with commissioning of services, at least in my trust it is. Your cmht is assigned based on GP.
There are some people who are "out of area" (though in the same trust) but these are usually temporary arrangements to ease transition to the different team.

Is the change purely due to gp change or is she being transitioned to the adult team? Because very often the camhs teams cover a wider area than the adult cmht (my trust has 2 camhs teams in comparison with 6 cmhts).

It will be due to change of gp. The gp has said we can stay there at the moment but will need to change as they have moved other people who are out of area. I was considering talking to the practice manger as surely it should be based on individual cases rather than a blanket rule. Hopefully then I can get her a few months in the cmht she’s in. Thank you for the information.

You can apply to be under a particular CMHT, I did- well I applied to change teams as I didn't get on with the one I was under (which was supposedly for my area.)

I would see if you can immediately apply to remain with the same team. If not, you can definitely ask to have it changed back if she's put under a new one. You do have to nag a bit and insist on your right to do so. It can take a few months to be resolved.

Sectioning is never done lightly- they just don't have room for a start. They'llve done it because they still think she's at particular risk of harming herself.

Best wishes and hugs xxxxx

Interestedwoman Thank you interested woman this is very helpful to know.

The practice manager is unlikely to have any influence on whether she stays with the cmht. You need to go direct to the cmht. Find out who the manager of the team is and appeal to them about it. The fact she is sectioned and currently in crisis seems like a perfectly reasonable argument to remain with her current team until she is more settled and is able to start a proper transition.

Thank you I honestly don’t see why they need to push the cmht issue so much. I understand the doctors wanting us to transfer her but with the cmht I don’t feel it make that much of difference to them but will make a significant difference to her.

I have personal (very close family member) and professional experience of sectioning. It is never done lightly in my experience.

Like I said it's likely to do with commissioning. Her care needs to be paid for by someone and if the commissioners state that they pay for patients from X GP surgery to attend Y CMHT then it's about arguing why they should fund care in a different service.
Its unlikely they are pushing the change just to be awkward. Advocacy services and PALs are really good places to go for help with this sort of thing.

thank you I understand that but would assume within the same trust they could come to sort of agreement about it.

In my experience it's never done lightly! I've seen someone who I felt really needed to be sectioned left to be treated at home when at serious risk of self harm and possibly a risk to others because there are just not enough beds. I don't have much faith In NHS mental health services now, I've seen them let too many people down. I'm sorry you are going through this with your DD, it's hard for us to see those we live struggle with mental health issues.

She has ward round tomorrow so she’s hoping for discharge. I’ve told her not to get her hopes up as it may not happen.

She’s been incident free since she’s been her a taken all her meds.

The trouble is @User5022 being incident free whilst in a restrictive and locked environment is one thing, showing you can be incident free in the community is another altogether.

That said with the amount of pressure on beds she may well get discharged, whether it's wholly in her best interests is another discussion. Sadly sometimes when a crisis admission comes it its "least ill" out

Yes I understand that and it obviously won’t be easy for her in the community. She’s seen something very upsetting yesterday which has really triggered her so she wants to leave even more than she did.

@doublebarrellednurse

Agree. My sister has basically said she will go home and do the same thing but they are still looking at discharging her from what we can make out.

Yes I do think they discharge some people too early from what I’ve heard. I assume it’s the pressure on the beds.