![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/6dd5c23d-e92b-4537-80a1-d783fd325212_88d568.jpg\")
Craig Hamilton felt \u201cleft alone\u201d by the mental health services. Image: Supplied<\/p>\nCraig Hamilton felt \u201cleft alone\u201d by the mental health services. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n
Patients like Hamilton are feeling the impact. The 50-year-old has needed support from mental health services since his early 20s, when he was hospitalised for six months, and he continued to need help for years until his mental health grew stable. He found a job as a support worker and volunteered at mental health charities.<\/p>\n
But around three years ago, he had a breakdown. Hamilton could feel his mental health deteriorating and says he \u201ctried to get help but it\u2019s impossible\u201d. He says he was put on a waiting list, unallocated to any support.<\/p>\n
Freedom of information request data from the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust shows there are more than 650 unallocated patients within secondary care services. They spend an average of 236.7 days \u2013 nearly eight months \u2013 waiting for support.<\/p>\n
Around 10 people have died while unallocated to mental health support over the last five years, while 63 have been hospitalised while in the trust\u2019s \u2018waiting well\u2019 scheme since 2022.<\/p>\n
Hamilton claims he waiting for support for more than two years. \u201cI probably didn\u2019t leave my bedroom for near on a year,\u201d he says. He adds that he felt \u201cleft alone and a bit bitter\u201d that he did not get the care he needed. He was able to get some psychotherapy after two years, which has helped his mental health, but there was no \u201ctimely care\u201d.<\/p>\n
A group of employees in the early intervention team at Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust spent months striking to demand more support and funding for their services, backed by unions Unite<\/a> and Unison<\/a>. They recently accepted a deal of \u00a3750,000, followed by a recurrent \u00a31 million in subsequent years, equivalent to 21 additional staff members.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Carol Harris, chief operating officer for Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, says: \u201cThe Greater Manchester system has a strategic plan for the transformation of mental health services which includes enhanced community models of care, with a focus on early intervention, prevention and a person-centred, integrated care approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the pressures the NHS and GMMH is under, continued negotiations have resulted in commissioners ring-fencing new recurrent funding specifically for early intervention services. We have submitted a compelling business case that demonstrates the outcomes we will achieve in terms of quality and performance and have already started to recruit new positions.\u201d<\/p>\n Harris added that the trust has engaged with a national expert to help focus on the clinical capacity needed to meet patient demand at pace and ensure decisions have impact.<\/p>\n Claire Miller, a Unison representative who works in the Manchester early intervention psychosis team said the deal is a \u201csubstantial investment\u201d, but there remain fears that issues within mental health services will persist in Manchester and across the country.<\/p>\n Another mental health patient, Vinny, says his experiences of the mental health services have been \u201cdisgusting\u201d. \u201cIt does make you ill just working the system,\u201d he adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 56-year-old had a care coordinator when he was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder 14 years ago but she retired after two years and was never replaced. \u201cBasically, I\u2019ve been on my own,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cUnless they\u2019ve been in the system, people don\u2019t realise just how difficult it is being in the system<\/a>, especially mentally. It just adds to your anxiety. It\u2019s hard to describe. Being ill and being under the hospital, it can make you even worse.<\/p>\n \u201cThey just seem to have lost compassion for the actual patient. You\u2019re not seen as a person, just as a patient. You very rarely see the same doctor more than three times.\u201d<\/p>\n An NHS Greater Manchester spokesperson says: \u201cAccess to timely mental health care is a priority for NHS Greater Manchester and we recognise the distress long waits can cause.\u00a0Demand for mental health services is rising nationally, but we\u2019re working to reduce waiting times, expand community support, and improve care for people with long-term conditions like bipolar disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n Vinny has had periods where he has not been able to sleep for five or six days. He struggles with his memory and concentration, and he falls regularly and has accidents. During one episode, he put his hand into the boiling water of a kettle.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do daft things like this, but actually a lot of things you don\u2019t realise you\u2019ve done until people tell you,\u201d Vinny says.<\/p>\n He feels as though he has been \u201cdismissed\u201d and \u201cabandoned\u201d by healthcare professionals. He would like to have an assigned doctor who he can see more regularly on a long-term basis.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, I don\u2019t really have any hopes because I\u2019m just getting on with it, but if you\u2019re asking trust wise, I\u2019d like them to improve the services. We want empathy. You can be ill, and the way the system works makes you more ill,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n Rachel Tulley, another patient in her 50s, agrees. She says \u201cthe care coordinators and community psychiatric nurses were brilliant\u201d when first started using the services 40 years ago when she was diagnosed with eating disorders and depression. She was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n \u201cIn them days, they were so caring and kind,\u201d Tulley remembers of mental health services years ago. \u201cIn the last few years, so many of us have got no support. I\u2019m one of the lucky ones. I\u2019ve still got my eating disorder and my bipolar has been uncontrolled for a while. I\u2019ve got a care coordinator, though I don\u2019t see her very often.\u201d<\/p>\n Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust claims that at the point of acceptance to the early intervention service, individuals are allocated a worker within 24 hours and engaged with care. <\/p>\n Harris said this includes \u201cregular appointments\u201d with a care coordinator to \u201creview needs and build skills and resilience, input to expand on social activities via support staff, housing welfare support, appointments with a psychiatrist and medication support\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cManchester EIS also has a team of psychologists, therapists, employment support workers and physical health staff to deliver holistic care towards recovery and the new investment will support us to strengthen this,\u201d Harris added.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n However, this has not been the experience of the patients who spoke to the Big Issue.<\/p>\n A few years ago, Tulley was very ill but nobody from the services had come to see her at home. Her friend was \u201cbegging\u201d people to come see her and, eventually when she faced a manic episode, the police came to her house.<\/p>\n She describes a \u201ctraumatic\u201d experience of being handcuffed, held down, screaming at them not to put her in a van, and being taken to the local police station. She was then sectioned and spent the next few months in hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a lonely world when you come out of hospital<\/a>,\u201d Tulley says. \u201cAdapting to real life is crucial and there\u2019s nobody to help you.\u201d<\/p>\n She adds: \u201cIt\u2019s the community services that are the worst. They\u2019re not putting any money in it. We\u2019re forgotten. But don\u2019t they realise that prevention is better than cure? If they spent more money in the community, it wouldn\u2019t wreck as many lives.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Tulley, Hamilton and Vinny are all members of a peer support group for people suffering with severe mental health conditions in Manchester. When the group, Community Works, first started more than 10 years ago, each of the members had a care coordinator allocated to them, but now only three of the 35 members of the group receive this support.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n They say being part of the group, which is led by former community psychiatric nurse Annabel Marsh, is a lifeline.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI cook on Friday with Annabel and we feed everybody a hot meal. Some people can\u2019t even cook for themselves. Some of them have terrible lives and they can\u2019t cope. They can\u2019t clean, not because they don\u2019t want to. They\u2019re immensely unwell. They live in homes that you wouldn\u2019t believe.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf I didn\u2019t do what I did for that group and have all them friends\u2026 I\u2019m very fortunate. My friends in the group are my life. If you took the group off me, I\u2019d be dead,\u201d Tulley says.<\/p>\n Evidence suggests that Greater Manchester is not the only area facing a crisis in its mental health services. NHS data analysed by charity Rethink Mental Illness<\/a> shows that 16,522 people are still waiting for mental health treatment after 18 months.<\/p>\n A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: \u201cToo often, people experiencing mental health crises are not getting the support or care they deserve, and this government is taking action to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n They claimed to be transforming mental health services backed by an extra \u00a3680m in government funding \u2013 \u201chiring more staff, delivering more talking therapies, and getting waiting lists down\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n It has also launched one of the world\u2019s first 24\/7 mental health crisis support services via NHS 111 and announced a \u00a326m investment in new crisis centres.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Tulley, Hamilton and Vinny feel that more must be done to protect lives.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have to realise that they need to put more money in community services and less money into state of the art things,\u201d Tulley says. \u201cI\u2019d like better support for staff and training, and care for people that are just getting swept under the carpet. It really gets me cross.\u201d<\/p>\n If you, or someone you know, is in a mental health crisis, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option It\u2019s available 24 hours a day, you\u2019ll speak to a mental health professional who can help you find the right support. If there\u2019s an immediate risk to life ring 999 or go to A&E.<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n We don\u2019t follow headlines. We lead with the truth.<\/strong>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Every week, Big Issue digs deeper \u2013 telling stories others don\u2019t. We\u2019re free to be bold, to speak up for those society overlooks and to put people at the heart of everything.<\/p>\n If you value journalism that entertains and cuts through the noise you can help us to keep it going.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/285be42a-4155-4fbc-8a1d-9e6c627624d0_9bde05.jpg\")
Rachel Tulley has faced \u201ctraumatic\u201d experiences with the services. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Poverty-Zero-banners_article-800x250-1.png\")
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