Vulnerable mental health service user exposes deadly "crisis" in Glasgow system
A deadly "crisis" over mental health care in Scotland's biggest city has been exposed by a service user who claims they was denied help in their darkest time.
Marius Samavicius launched an investigation after a three-year battle for support in Glasgow, which saw the 33-year-old's suicidal thoughts referenced as a 'lovely wee email'.
The artist found almost one in three of the more than 86,000 people seeking help from Glasgow's adult Community Mental Health Teams over the last seven years were rejected for care, while more than 1,100 people died under the service.
The data - branded "heartbreaking" by campaigners - revealed just 6% of those accepted for care were referred for psychology over the period, between 2018 and 2024.
The figures come amid a backdrop of shattering cuts to other mental health services across the city and show the number of people seeking help was at its highest over the last two years - as were the number of rejections.
Marius, whose mental health battle led to them becoming homeless during Covid, said: 'Asking for mental health support takes courage and many stay silent out of fear or shame.
'I was shocked by the sheer number of people who died in care. How many died before seeking help, or after being rejected or discharged? The NHS doesn't publish this data.
'The NHS mental health system isn't broken - it's already collapsed and patients are left under the rubble.
'There's no scan that proves mental illness, so people are often dismissed as dramatic, unstable, or 'not ready' for therapy.'
Data released under the Freedom of Information Act shows that 86,226 patients sought help through 10 of the city's adult centres during the period.
The figures refer to Shawpark Resource Centre in Maryhill, North east Glasgow's Arran, Auchinlea and Springpark centres, the Arndale and Riverside centres in the North West of the city as well as Brand Street, Florence Street, Rossdale and the Stewart Centre in the south.
Nearly one in three people (27,431) were rejected outright for care for various reasons while 9,649 were discharged from care for failing to attend appointments.
A total of 1,103 patients died under the care of the service.
Across nine of the centres, excluding Shawpark, which could not provide complete data, just 6% (5,310 patients) were allocated to psychology, while 7,135 completed treatment.
The longest wait time for treatment hit 81 weeks - 4.5 times longer than Scotland's 18-week target.
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Marius demanded answers after his battle for support through Shawpark.
A subject access request exposed correspondence in which staff handling a complaint from Marius which referenced suicidal thoughts describe it as a 'lovely wee email' in 2023.
Marius said there was no subsequent risk assessment or welfare check.
The artist claims they were discharged from the service three times through no fault of their own and were never put on the psychology waiting list.
They said: 'When I was finally assessed by Shawpark, I was told that trauma therapy might make me worse. I felt dismissed and written off but charity LGBT Health and Wellbeing responded immediately. They gave me weekly sessions and, despite limited resources, offered around 20 sessions of wellbeing and trauma-focused support.'
In March, the Glasgow Integrated Joint Board (IJB) for Health and Social Care services set a budget that included £42 million worth of cuts across a range of services, including lifeline mental health services like counselling, psychotherapy and trauma recovery.
Scottish Labour Mental Health spokesperson Paul Sweeney MSP said: 'These heartbreaking figures show the cost of failing to support mental health services.
'Services like this are stretched to breaking point under the SNP, leaving far too many Scots falling through the cracks.
'With thousands of people being turned away from our health service in their hour of need, it's clear the founding principles of our NHS have been compromised.'
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde apologised to Marius for any distress caused but insisted that appropriate treatment was offered.
A spokesman said: 'Our staff continue to work tirelessly to meet the increasing demands for psychological therapies and to ensure those who need to support of our teams are seen as quickly as possible.
'In line with the national policy, patients referred to our services will be assessed and if appropriate will be redirected or supported to alternative services. Those who are rejected include patients who are given advice about treatment, referred to other services, or in cases where a referral is inappropriate or incomplete.'
The Scottish Government said mental health was an 'absolute priority' and expects its overall spending to be over £1.3 billion for the next year.
A spokeswoman said: 'Every death by suicide is a tragedy and our heartfelt sympathies go out to all those affected by suicide. We expect anyone in distress or experiencing suicidal thoughts who presents themselves to NHS or community services to be treated with respect and receive timely access to high quality and safe mental health care, as close to home as possible.
'Whilst one in two people start psychological therapy treatment within three weeks of referral, some people still wait too long, so we will continue to provide enhanced support to those health boards not on track to meet the standard.'
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