DEATHS could have been prevented had mental-health staff listened more to concerns from families, according to an expert who has been campaigning for the introduction of formal guidelines around the specific role of carers for more than a decade.
The call for a better partnership between carers and medical staff who care for Islanders with mental health issues comes from Stephen McCrimmon, co-founder and director of Focus on Mental Illness
While the health department has argued that work has been done in recent years to improve working with families and carers, Mr McCrimmon’s comments follow a recent inquest that found that some mental-health staff were unclear about whether they could accept information from relatives.
After the death earlier this year, the Health Department carried out an internal investigation, which stressed that teams can receive information “regardless of confidentiality” and urged services to make it clearer who relatives should contact for support.
Responding, Mr McCrimmon described the findings as “frustrating” and said they reflected the government’s failure to introduce the Triangle of Care – a UK framework that encourages communication between mental-health professionals, patients and families.
“It is very important that staff are available to hear concerns from families and carers, and this is in no way a breach of anyone’s confidentiality,” he said.
“Families and carers will often know the patient best, and their input can be helpful and vital in some instances to preventing deterioration in mental health and serious incidents occurring.”
The Triangle of Care scheme – which has been in use in England since 2010 – calls for medics to recognise the “vital role” carers play, as well as ensuring that carers are listened to and consulted more closely.
The model was first proposed in Jersey in 2014, when Mind Jersey – where Mr McCrimmon then worked as a carer and family support manager – urged the Health Department to adopt the approach.
Speaking to the JEP at the time, Mr McCrimmon warned that carers were being “forgotten about” and needed to be recognised as “experts” in their loved one’s care.
He said then-Health Minister Andrew Green agreed to develop a Jersey version of the framework in 2015, which Mr McCrimmon wrote and was ready for rollout the following year – but the work stalled.
“I finished writing the Jersey document at the end of 2015, and the agreement then was that Adult Mental Health Services would apply for the licence and roll out the first assessment of the ward in 2016,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this did not happen, and we have been sitting and waiting for someone to move forward with it.”
Mr McCrimmon confirmed that Jersey has now secured the Triangle of Care licence and is preparing to begin implementation – but accused the department of wasting years and creating delays that, he said, may have contributed to preventable deaths.
“Whilst I am delighted to hear we have now got the licence and are ready to roll out the work, it does come with some sadness and ‘what if’ when I think of situations over the years where carers and families’ voices and concerns were not heeded in the same way they would be if the information was coming from a professional, and the outcomes have been significant, including loss of life,” he said.
“We need to get this right from the start – be honest, consistent, open to constructive feedback and have a real appetite to see the carer’s role as equal in partnership working. Carers know the person best – their personality before illness, the subtle changes professionals don’t see – and we need to recognise their key role and include this in the way services work.”
Responding, Health’s director of mental health Andy Weir said: “There has been much work undertaken in the last two years in relation to working with families and carers, and we recognise this as a priority across our mental health services.
“I am delighted that we are now progressing the Triangle of Care as part of this work and am confident that this will be a positive step forward.”
