Barton Bridge Tragedy exposes cracks in Mental Health Services

Emergency services responded to a concern for welfare on Barton Bridge at around 9:30 a.m. Due to this situation, police closed the M60 from JNC 12 to 10 just past Trafford Centre. This side of the M60 remains closed as we publish this article.

Police confirm that a man was found deceased after he fell from the bridge. This raises questions about the state of Mental Health Services, which are completely broken.

For someone to take their life can be due to more than just mental health issues, but they will have needed these issues leading up to the moment they decide to end their life. Some people, nonetheless, try to be brave and do not let anyone know how they feel, building up their feelings until it leads to something tragic.

With Mental Health Services broken since the start of the pandemic, they have not recovered. People in services for years who had a care coordinator found themselves with nothing. This was a shock to many, especially in Trafford, who only had the GP left to help them out, and even they did not have the tools to give adequate support.

CMHTs (Community Mental Health Teams) changed to offer help only to those at risk to themselves or others, with others having to use community services that the voluntary sector wasn’t ready for due to the number of people needing help. During this time, voluntary services like Blu Sci have gone from strength to strength.

This, though, isn’t enough for those with complex needs, and most of those were ejected from CMHTs. Due to a lack of real advocacy—something Trafford once had—these people had no legal help. The CAB was left to pick up the pieces, but even they told us, “All we can offer is advice,” which is not what service users needed.

At this time, we have Talking Therapies, which have improved since they first started. This service offers minimal psychological help and is meant to assist individuals with getting out and doing something, voluntary work or training, or even finding employment.

This approach makes sense if someone has mild anxiety issues or shows signs of early depression; like cancer, ‘catch it early, and you have a better chance of curing it.’ Someone coming from CMHT will have complex issues and needs the type of help they once received.

Even now, people are left in limbo, forced to deal with mounting problems on their own, with only the GP as a source of medical help. This situation is a ticking time bomb, and we see more people taking their lives or planning to do so. Detection has become something forgotten.

Something needs to be done urgently, and it is the government that must take action. With the current administration in charge, we do not expect anything to change, and sadly, more people will be left to suffer, ultimately leading to heartbreaking outcomes for families. This is a national disgrace!

If you or anyone needs to talk to someone you can do so by ringing free 116 123 which is confidential and operates 24/7 an expert will never judge you! they are there to listen.

DO not ever keep things locked away! always try and confide in someone in your family, even a best friend if you cannot speak to a trained professional.