Faith in mental health crisis teams 'lost'

Mental health campaigners on the Isle of Man have claimed people are being turned away from services whose help they need.

Juan Moore, who set up support group Manx Pact, said people had "lost faith in the crisis team" provided by Manx Care, arguing there needed to be more staff and more funding.

An MKH also said that teams dedicated to preventing suicide were "not fully resourced and connected".

The government said a refreshed suicide prevention strategy, due in early 2027, would focus on "intervening earlier" so people get help "before reaching crisis."

Moore set up Manx PACT (Manx People Actioning Change Together) after being told he faced a two-year wait for help.

He said many people who came to the group had said they had been turned away from mental health crisis teams.

He claimed one had been told it was "not a talking service" whiled another had said their relatived was not unwell enough to be helped.

Moore said the team was, in his view, "understaffed, and overworked".

He said he wanted callers to the crisis team to be able to speak to a psychiatrist or psychologist at any time of day, more funding for services, and for people who had survived mental health crises to have a role in shaping the support on offer.

"If we were to listen to the people who survived, we could go a long, long way towards sorting out some of these issues," he said.

Joney Faragher, MHK for Douglas East, raised concerns about the suspected suicide rapid response team, set up in 2021 to support families and others affected immediately after a suspected suicide.

She said that too often since the Island's suicide prevention strategy was published, officials had "ticked boxes rather than measured impact on people".

"That's where we need to put all of our focus now: how are we actually helping people feel better?" she said.

Chief Minister Chris Thomas said the government's responsibility was "not only to provide compassionate and timely support to those affected, but to do everything we can to prevent further deaths".

He said the suicide prevention strategy was being refreshed, with a new version due in early 2027 that would bring together government, charities, communities "and people with lived experience".

And he said a rapid response team, which brought teams together to offer immediate support after a suspected suicide, had been running since 2021.

He acknowledged there were still "outstanding gaps", and said the upcoming refresh would look at opportunities to "strengthen intelligence, coordination and earlier intervention".

Faragher pressed the chief minister for more detail, telling him: "I'm not asking for generalised responses, that could be a response to any question."

She said that while services could be set up and meetings held, "none of that necessarily tells us whether vulnerable people are getting the support that they need".

Manx Care, which runs the crisis team, has been approached for comment.

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