Plenty to be concerned about after the recent inquest in to the death of Lauren Bridges, an occupational therapist from Bournemouth.  She died by suicide whilst detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 at a hospital near Stockport, Greater Manchester.  This is around 250-miles from her home and imposed an incredible drive on her family […]

I went looking recently for the 2017 national memorandum of understanding from the College of Policing and others on the Police Use of Restraint in Mental Health and Learning Disablity Settings. This document resulted from the tragic deaths in London of Seni Lewis (2010) and in Birmingham of Kingsley Burrell (2011). At some point, the College […]

The Guardian reported at the start of September that “people with mental illness in England face ‘horrifically long’ wait for an ambulance” — and off we go in to the world of ambulance and mental health.  This article instantly brought a number of memories and flashbacks, notably including the senior paramedics who once asked me […]