Mental Health Solicitors

The charity Thames Reach is calling for more to be done to highlight and address the needs of rough sleepers with mental health conditions in London.

A recent report by BBC News followed the work of mental health worker Fatima Taylor with the Tower Hamlets Street Outreach Response Team (SORT), providing mental health support to rough sleepers.

Thames Reach said in a statement that statistics show, in 2015, a total of 47% of those sleeping rough in the capital had a mental health support need –
while figures for the first quarter of 2016 show a 9% rise in people on the streets with poor mental health.

In Tower Hamlets in east London, mental health professional Fatima Taylor is operating alongside outreach teams with the support of the local council, to ensure vulnerable people get the treatment and support they need.

Director of operations at Thames Reach, Bill Tidnam, said:

“At least 500 people sleeping rough long term are struggling with severe and enduring mental health problems –and aren’t getting proper access to appropriate services.”

It is hoped the BBC News report will help highlight the issues.

“Living on the streets is dangerous and unhealthy,” Bill Tidnam added.

“If most of us had a friend or relation suffering from significant mental health problems, we would do what we could to get them help.

“Many people who are sleeping rough don’t have this – and this can mean that they are left without the help that they need and stay homeless.

“More local mental health services need to reach out and work on the streets to offer assessments and aid full access to ongoing mental health support.”

Thames Reach says that mental health services have not operated on the streets regularly – and instead, mental health professionals tend to work from their own offices and clinics, meaning people sleeping rough have not been able to receive direct support for mental health problems, some of which remain undetected or undiagnosed.

Many health trusts have also cut back on the number of mental health beds available, with support in some regions offered via telephone helplines when patients feel they are reaching a crisis.

However, a recent report by the Communities and Local Government Committee on factors contributing to homelessness says that many homeless people are affected by one or more contributing factors, such as poor mental health, substance addiction or experience of abuse.

The authors of the report say that homelessness services also tend to focus on a single need, such as mental health or drug addiction, “rather than on multiple needs and how the different needs interact with one another”.

A Client Needs Survey conducted by St Mungo’s charity in 2015 found that a total of 39% of those questioned said a mental health issue had contributed to their homelessness – and 35% said drug use had been a contributory factor.

Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors

Duncan Lewis is the UK’s largest provider of Legal Aid mental health services and can advise mental health patients on a wide range of issues – including access to NHS mental health services and detention under the Mental Health Act.

Duncan Lewis mental health solicitors regularly visit NHS hospitals and police stations to advise on mental health law – and are available nationwide at short notice for hospital, prison and police station appointments.

In some cases, Duncan Lewis mental health solicitors may be able to advise the nearest relative or carer of a mental health patient on a range of issues, including initiating treatment reviews where appropriate.

For expert legal advice on mental health law, call the Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors Helpline on 0333 772 0409.