To just need to tell people what's happening in my nhs team? *mentions of mh and suicide*

[Nhswoe]

This isn't really an aibu but a ranting of thoughts

I am middle management for a community mental health team and it feels like the walls are crumbling around me and I just don't know what to do.

Today we heard that yet another ex colleague has ended their life. It's becoming horrendously not unheard of, in the last few months two of my staff have spoken to me about suicidal thoughts, I suspect a third is also experiencing them. Every supervision people tell me they are stressed. Our team has a high level of genuine physical illness like cancer, strokes etc and part of me feels like that's also the job killing people

We can't recruit, have empty posts, posts dissappearing and budgets being slashed. Our building is literally falling apart, we don't have the rooms to see people so even if weve had the staff weve had to cancel appointments because we dont have available space, whole floors have been condemend

We know the patient care isn't great. The system heaves under the weight. I spoke to a mum today and I could hear in her voice the fear that everynight she might lose her daughter as she waits a third week for a bed. People awaiting beds are literally disappearing through gaps

It feels like notifications that someone has died while under our care come regularly

It's like a game of spinning plates but there's too many plates, and they are crashing but each crash is a potential death, a loss of a son, mum. I'm worried every week that the next notification will be a member of my staff, one of my patients, or even me

I've got no idea whether to stay within the system and try to humanise it, be the best manager I can or to just walk away and play no part in letting people down.

What on earth do you do?

I don't know what to say to help but I also worked in a cmht and every line of your post is familiar to me. I left as I had to put my own health first at the end of the day and as an AHP am still able to help people in a different way in my current role. Make sure you take care of yourself

I have no answer for you @Nhswoe but I will vote Labour with exactly people like you & your patients in mind.. I can’t believe the state of our public services and how people have allowed this to happen. Wishing you lots of luck whichever path you take.. sound like a great manager and very caring.. x

This is why I left, along with the culture of taking no responsibility for mentally unwell patients - the attitude of "if they kill themselves, they know what they're doing." Always making sure the paperwork covers you if the worst happens, never mind actually trying to help a person. I had a caseload of 40 to see in two days due to various other roles, clinics etc, and it wasn't good enough. I couldn't sleep at night.

No real advice, just commiserations. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer here, bar doing what you feel is necessary for your teams health, secondary to your own, in these challenging circumstances.

my friends are Rgn and unfortunately the NHS in general isn’t too dissimilar.

I’ve recently left working in inpatient (private) MH for my own sake, but less so because of the conditions and more due to the staff and attitudes. I can’t say I entirely blame them though, it’s largely compassion fatigue but what can you do.

As the wife and carer for someone who is with the local community mental health team, I'd like to thank you for what you all do and let you know you are all appreciated. It must be a terribly stressful job and there is a high turnover of staff where we are too. I'm sorry to hear that you have lost colleagues and former colleagues, that must be very hard on you all. I really wish this government and whatever government is in charge next, recognise the importance of mental health services and give you more support. I couldn't have remained as a carer for my dh without the help of the local mental health services.

I am under a community team, because I’m actively suicidal. You all do a fantastic job, given the constraints of your job. But, I have noticed the stress my care team are under and I now try to give them a break from me and my thoughts every now and again. I can only imagine how hard it is to constantly deal with the emotions people like myself have.

At the end of the day, the most important person is you - there is no point you ending up as a patient yourself. Maybe you could look at other roles that mean you can still help, but protect yourself at the same time?

Your post is the very definition of moral injury.

As a professional who tries to work closely with adult mental health services I absolutely know and appreciate the pressure you are under.

It's all completely broken. Outsourced drug and alcohol services putting metaphorical sticking plasters on metaphorical amputated limbs of people who are self medicating mental health problems with drugs and alcohol, whilst mental health services basically don't touch anyone who is self medicating with drugs and/or alcohol because they don't have the resources to unpick it once its reached that stage.

Special thanks to the police who also won't do welfare calls any more. I understand why but it feels like a last straw.

My experience sadly is that increasingly the only people staying in Adults Mental Health only do so because for many reasons they no longer care. Most of the time that's because they themselves have become traumatised by the work but sometimes it's because it's become a safe place for cruel people to hide.

I can absolutely tell from your post you aren't one of those people OP but I can also tell you know exactly what I am talking about which is why you want to stay to protect people from their own poor MH and the impact of MH services on them as much as you can whilst also knowing its largely futile

I have no words of wisdom. Just a hope that a change in government will eventually bring about a change in MH funding. .

I can't see how Labour's manifesto solution of getting staff to work overtime at weekends and evenings to provide extra appointments to reduce waiting lists is caring and thoughtful to staff. They're already overworked and stressed out - how is getting them to work even more the solution ?

I left my role as a manager in a social work team in very similar circumstances. I loved my job but it got to a point where I knew something had to give. I was working an average of 12 hrs a day and not sleeping at night through fear of the death of a service user, due to how understaffed and underfunded we were. It was a difficult decision and took me a long time to not feel bitter and angry about feeling like I had to leave because of the impact that it was having on me and my family. That was over 10 years ago and while I still work in a similar field, I am no longer a manager and will never be again. I earn a lot less and have a lot less responsibility but it was definitely the best decision .

It's helpful to hear everyone stories and realise that It's not just us feeling this strain
It's also incredibly sad for everyone

Firstly I'd like to say, I wish my managers had your attitude, despite everything, you genuinely care about your staff and patients.

I also work in the NHS and I am totally disillusioned by the attitudes I see on a very regular basis, it is a case of "I can't beat them so I'll join them"

I don't think anything will change any time soon OP, a new government will take a very long time (if ever) to turn things around. You yourself cannot do this alone, as much as I admire your commitment to your role, you cannot compromise your own health.

You will have more and more pressure piled on you so think long and hard about your future..I wish you well and thank you for all you do.

The UK is sad and broken. The whole world is sad and broken and it'll resolve itself soon enough with climate change, and famine and mass migrations.

OP, I'm really sorry to hear this.

Not meaning to sound condescending, but I assume you have done/are doing the following:

On a practical level, are there any wellbeing resources you can refer your stressed colleagues to? I work in the NHS and we had a psychologist in during the pandemic to help support staff. Staff can self refer to the psychology team and I know a few who have found it really helpful. Refer each stressed person to occ health and recommend they see their GP. If they need time off then they need time off. At least you are doing your best by your staff, even if it leaves you short. If staff are union members they may be able to access counselling through this route.

Call a meeting with your manager to outline your concerns around the service and the current failures. Follow up with a clear, factual email outlining your concerns and the current issues. Take data if you can (e.g 25% of posts are unfilled). Outline what actions you have taken and ask directly what they plan to do about the situation.

Submit an incident report regarding short staffing/ sub optimal care every shift. I have a copy paste template saved in my word documents so can do this in 5 minutes. Nobody can then claim they were unaware of the situation or that you didn't report it.

Seek some counselling for yourself and think about whether you need time out- we all only have some much to give and it's okay to put yourself first.

I'm so sorry you're in this position and yet at the same time having to moderate how you share your thoughts with your MH team in order to help look after their MH. What an absolute shambles- I feel like your perspective on this is hugely important because I bet your side is rarely heard. Presumably many people under MH care and especially those who are actively suicidal like you, are too unwell to have capacity to share observations on their MH care team's own MH so it's brilliant that you have.
Is there anyone you could write to to share your thoughts more widely- whether journalists, your MP, the MH service top bosses?

You can't put pressure on yourself to save everybody. Not at the cost of your own soul.

You have to think of yourself first - and if that means finding an alternative job or taking time off, that's what you need to do.

Unfortunately I can beleive it I was a mental health nurse for years working in both acute and elderly care settings I can imagine middle management is pretty crap you get shit from the senior management and shit from your colleagues too not sure what the answer is though.

Thank you. I have previously written to my MP about the state of funding, bed availability and the pressure I could see within the system (I was waiting nearly 3 weeks for an urgent admission at the time). I was hoping he’d interject in a supportive manner with the Trust, but sadly it turned into more of a ‘sort it out’ and left the management feeling more pressure, rather than supporting them.

He’s recently said he won’t be standing for election again, so maybe I can try again with his replacement. Whilst I know this will ‘out’ my location, it appears his ‘levelling up’ role didn’t extend to NHS staff…

I'm not sure labour will help the NHS crisis tbh I was redeployed twice in one year due too cuts in the mental health Trust I worked for this was between 2005 -2006 so under the last Labour government imo the NHS needs a complete overhaul

This is all really good practical advice.

I'd also put your team on the risk register.

I lost a loved one to suicide, in part because they presented to MH crisis team and there were no beds.

I don't for one minute blame you or any of the individuals. I blame those who chose to under fund the NHS and it's MH services.

For all that I campaign for better MH services and that needing good people like you, you have to look after yourself. If the job is unsustainable for you, put your needs first.

@Toetouchingtitties that's so good you did that and a great idea to try again now - I wonder if the current candidates would be more likely to respond positively now, whilst they're on the campaign trail.
You could even refer to their predecessors failed response to provoke something more helpful.
It seems Labour are putting more focus on MH care so that should be one hopeful candidate at least who'll be trying to give you a better response.
Good luck with your struggles too. I really hope you get through it as you sound so compassionate and proactive, you have so much to offer the world xxx

I work for a charity supporting homeless people with complex needs.

We have a high staff turnover, difficulties recruiting and the environment for staff and clients is increasingly unsafe, with constants incidents.

The work environment is also toxic with a huge amount of time wasted on politics and backstabbing.

This is destroying my mental health and I am job hunting to find something else.

Management unfortunately does very little and just brushes off the high staff turnover with 'this is just expected/normal for frontline services''.

No wisdom but wanted to say thank you to you (and all others on here) who work in mental health

Having been under the home treatment team for 6 weeks earlier this year I think you all do the most amazing job and I know I owe my life to the team. Along with the police and ambulance services who had to find me when I was suicidal and dissociated.

I can't imagine the pressure you must all be working under but I am thankful for you all every day.

This sounds awful. Sorry if naive but what are the HR/ whistleblowing policies like? I would be gathering evidence - putting in writing eg reports of number of appts missed due to no space, days lost due to staff off sick etc.
if that fails the daily mail love this sort of thing. Take it to them.