ISLANDERS with serious, long-term mental illnesses are calling for regular psychiatrist appointments to be reinstated after some patients were abruptly discharged from regular specialist care amid a review of how stretched mental health resources are used.
Health confirmed to the JEP that it has been reviewing patients to determine who no longer requires ongoing long-term specialist care – but the move has left some questioning how that judgement is being made, including one woman with bipolar disorder, who told this newspaper that she was suicidal only months before being discharged and referred to her GP instead.
A petition has now been launched, calling for a rethink amid concerns that patients who are currently stable could struggle to get expert help quickly enough if their condition deteriorates.
Contacted by the JEP, Health and Care Jersey managing director and mental-health service director Andy Weir denied suggestions that established patients were being discharged to make room for new referrals, but confirmed that clinicians had been reviewing existing mental health service users to identify those who “no longer need to be under the long-term care of specialist services”.
He said this was “to ensure we are utilising our clinical resources most effectively”.
“Where it is identified that people require ongoing care and treatment from mental health services, their care is being transferred to either the Community Mental Health Team, another appropriate mental health team, or to a mental health professional for a period of transition,” added Mr Weir.
“This is a clinical decision made on an individual basis.”
It is that assessment which ‘Olivia’ – not her real name – told the JEP had left her confused and frightened.
Speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, Olivia explained that she was removed from the service just months after a five-month relapse during which she had been thinking about taking her own life.
Olivia said she was stunned when she was told during a follow-up appointment that long-term patients like her were no longer being kept under regular psychiatric care and would instead have to use their GP or the crisis service if they became unwell.
“I’m gutted,” she said. “I’ve just found a psychiatrist who’s amazing. And for five months, I was suicidal. He got me back on track. I managed to stay working.”
She said the psychiatrist had been seeing her frequently when she was seriously unwell, with appointments becoming less regular as her condition stabilised.
“When I was not well, he was seeing me every week. Then it went to every two weeks. I was at six-weekly, but when I’m stable, it’s probably every three months to six months,” she explained.
“But it’s just to review my medication, and I know I can pick up that phone and say: ‘Look, I’m in a really bad place. Can you get me an appointment?’”
It is a safety net that Olivia, like other service users, says she fears she has now lost.
With her condition having recently deteriorated very rapidly, she said she believed having direct access to her psychiatrist had made a potentially life-saving difference.
“If I hadn’t have had my psychiatrist then, and I was in this situation, I might not be here now,” she said. “And that’s a really scary thought.”
The petition, which went live on the States website last week, calls on the government to “reinstate regular psychiatrist appointments for mental health patients”. If it gets 1,000 signatures, it will get an official Ministerial response. If it gets 5,000, the States Assembly will consider it for a debate.
The petitioner argues that the change has led to “delays” and a “reduction in the level of care” available to some mental-health patients.
The JEP approached the Health Department to establish the rationale behind the change and whether it was considering reversing or amending the arrangements in light of concerns raised by patients.
Responding, Mr Weir said he was “sorry to hear that some service users feel concerned about their ongoing care”.
“I appreciate that some people will be concerned about this, and in particular about re-accessing mental health care if needed. Please be reassured that access to services can be done quickly – within four hours for a crisis and ten days for routine referrals,” he said.
Given how rapidly her mental health can deteriorate, Olivia said she was deeply concerned about having to be referred back into specialist services if she became unwell again.
She, like others, said she feared being left “back of the queue” at precisely the point when she needed expert help most – a concern which comes against a history of pressure on mental-health services.
The most recently published Health performance data for April 2026 showed that only 65.6% of referrals to the Mental Health Assessment Team were assessed within the ten-working-day target, against a standard of more than 85%.
For crisis referrals, 85.5% were assessed within four hours, just above the 85% target.
For Olivia, even the target times offer little reassurance, given how quickly she knows her condition can spiral into crisis.
“My bipolar’s not going to go away,” she said. “When I go down, I go down. It’s such a quick drop for me… And my [GP] doctor isn’t a mental-health expert.”
She said that, upon learning that she was being ‘de-listed’ from the service, she asked whether she could simply remain under her psychiatrist for an appointment every six months to review her medication.
Olivia was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in her 20s after being admitted to a psychiatric institution while living away from the Island. When she later returned to Jersey, she said a period without consistent psychiatric support coincided with her becoming seriously unwell and homeless.
It took several years, with the close support of an “amazing” local social worker, to rebuild her life.
“I don’t want to end up homeless again,” she said of her current fears. “What’s going to happen to me in that meantime?”
She added: “It’s scary. Not just for me, for many people. It’s scary.”
Olivia also said that she and others were anxious that losing continuity of care could mean repeatedly recounting traumatic experiences to unfamiliar clinicians who are not specialised in her condition or trauma.
She recalled a previous period during which her psychiatrist changed several times and said that having to repeatedly explain her history – which includes sexual violence – was itself distressing and could trigger or re-traumatise her.
One of her biggest fears, however, related to having to rely on a crisis team response after having previously waited around a week for a response when she was in deep distress – despite the stated four-hour target time.
On that occasion, she said, she still had her psychiatrist to fall back on. He recognised the severity of Olivia’s need, and was able to schedule an appointment – a route which will no longer be available to her.
She also raised concerns about the additional costs of transferring care to primary care, saying she would need to pay to see a GP for medication reviews and prescriptions that had previously been managed through psychiatric services.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said. “They don’t even know what tablets I’m on, so I’m going to have to go and see the doctor to show her what tablets I’m on, so I can get a repeat prescription.
“So that’s going to cost £60. People who don’t have money – that’s a lot of money.”
Mr Weir said that he would “encourage anyone who is concerned about their care to speak with their clinician to discuss their individual needs”.
“Mental health support is also available from the Recovery Hub. Our priority remains ensuring that everyone receives safe, appropriate and timely mental health care based on their individual clinical needs,” he added.
