Right now, too many people are discharged from psychiatric wards only to face long waits or inadequate follow-up.
This leaves them vulnerable, isolated, and at risk of relapse or crisis.
We call on Parliament to introduce and fund a national standard that guarantees meaningful mental health aftercare — not just box-ticking.
Every discharged inpatient must receive compassionate, tailored support within 7 days to reduce risk, save lives, and ensure recovery is safe and sustainable. Aftercare should never depend on luck or postcode; it must be a right.
My Story
In October 2024 I was admitted to a psychiatric ward after an extremely serious attempt to take my own life. I was in hospital for a total of six weeks and discharged in December.
Mental health inpatient care isn’t equipped to treat patients on these wards, they are simply there to keep patients safe, mainly from themselves. As a result the people being discharged from these facilities may not be in immediate danger but are often still extremely unwell.
When I was discharged from hospital I was seen by the home treatment team for no more than 15 minutes and I was discharged from them to the community mental health team. I was told I would receive communication from them within 7 days. This didn’t happen.
I was lucky, I had support around me. If I didn’t to put it bluntly I would be dead. After months of chasing I finally received an initial appointment for May, 5 months after being discharged from hospital. In this time I couldn’t cope and I tried to take my life twice more. This is not ok. Nobody should have to nearly die once, let alone 3 times before help and support are given.
I would love to say I was unfortunate, that I had fallen through the tiny cracks within the system. I can’t say that, it wouldn’t be true. I have met far too many people who share the same story as mine. And there are so many others that didn’t make it. So many others who never had the chance to share their story.
I refuse to be another statistic. I will not stay quiet.
“Aftercare isn’t a luxury, it is quite literally the difference between life or death.”
What About Now?
“Always Ask Twice”
Recently I recognised that so many of us use the phrase ‘Are you ok?’ never really expecting a response other than:
“All good thanks”
“I’m fine”
We are aren’t being rude – we do it to be polite but sometimes people do need to get things off their chest.
Over the last few days I have been asked “Am I ok?”
When I gave my normal I’m fine – I was asked a second time and because of this I opened up and admitted I was struggling.
Something so simple can be so powerful.
