Ben Jackson, Community mental health worker

“I had a service user who waited 15 hours and just got sent home. This is someone with schizophrenia, hearing voices, in major distress, just couldn’t get a service. It’s just inhumane and we need to do something about it”

“We have not enough beds across Manchester….and we have citizens of Manchester being ferried to Northumbria, and down to Plymouth and Exeter. This is hundreds of miles away from their next-of-kin when they are trying to recover and get well – and that is just inhumane.”

“[The staff] are essentially been asking to do more and more work with less and less staff. The services are constantly looking to save money and that seems to be the management imperative – just to save the money – whereas the staff are conflicted because they are trying to deliver a professional quality service, an ethical service under various codes. [The staff] are in distress because they are in conflict as they know that they are often not able to provide an adequate service and this is a major ethical conflict for a lot of  professional staff whether it be social workers, occupational therapists, CPNs or inpatient nurses.”

“Everything is strained to the limit……it is not acceptable, so the commissioners and the decisions makers need to have a long think about mental health and proper funding.”

Tell us your experience

Help explain how pressure on resources affects your job.

  • What is it like working under pressure in the NHS? What kind of compromises do you have to make? Do patients suffer as a result of lack of resources? How does it feel to work in the NHS at the moment? Are you optimistic about the future?
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