Thursday 5 March 2009

Poor Daniel Gonzalez, let down by our 'caring society'

Another day, another tragedy. Another young man, seriously, terminally ill with schizophrenia is callously let down by our 'caring community.'

How many more times am I going to write these lines? How many more investigations will there be into our mental health services? How many more times will the various heads of various trusts piously write: "We offer our profound condolences to..."

I'm actually pretty sick of it. Daniel Gonzalez, whose mother wrote to the Surrey mental health trust 'responsible' for him over 100 times. Yes, ONE HUNDRED times. She knew he was ill. HE tried to get himself sectioned. His case worker described him as being "like a wild animal in a cage" and no one, NO ONE was willing to take responsibility for helping him.

So, of course, the corollory was that Daniel, in a fevered state of mind, murdered four people. Then, while he was at Broadmoor, he slashed his wrists with a CD and killed himself.

It made me want to cry. Cry with the most profound pity for this poor boy. For the frustration his mother must have felt and, of course, for the innocent victims caught up in the horror because of the sheer inadequacy of the NHS.

It's a disgrace and it's one that will be repeated ad infinitum until someone takes the initiative and decides that the money that is discarded by this government on so many irrelvant projects is spent on the most needy of society. They can't do it themselves.

How many more deaths? How many more investigations? How many more tears will be shed by parents, patients and victims until something is done here to rectify these preventable killings?

I only wish I knew.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is tragic, absolutely tragic. In my short visit to london, I saw an advert on the side of a bus to 'end the stigma of mental illness'... obviously this is just never going to happen. It's all very well advertising, but that is never going to change the deep rooted way society think. I am so upset by this story too. Knowing first hand of the shocking state of the inadequacy of the mental health care in the country.
How sad for this family, I hate, hate, hate to think just how many other families are suffering like this out there with NO help from the "wonderful" NHS!!!!
It really is devastating.

Ros Morris said...

I know how you feel. It's just devastating.

Anonymous said...

I see from the news that yet another tragedy of a killing by someone with mental health problems has hit the headlines....the usual problems, no one wanted to know, the metal heath teams not interested, the family at their wits end. And still after all the problems with baby P another short, and tragic life cut short without the support and care that SHOULD be forthcoming from our so called caring services. Stop this nonsense of targets, customer relations and pussy footing around and lets get back to some good old fashioned common sense and CARE.

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