A Dundee mother who tried to commit suicide three times in one week could not get access to a psychiatric unit in the city because all the beds were full, her husband has claimed.
The 37-year-old woman, who has bipolar disorder, was admitted to Sunnyside Royal Hospital in Montrose this week after being unable to get a bed in the Carseview Centre, adjacent to Ninewells Hospital, where she received “excellent care” previously.
Her husband, who does not want the family to be identified, said all the beds in Carseview and Murray Royal Hospital in Perth were full and there was a waiting list.
He said his wife took an overdose of drugs on three occasions after a psychiatrist told her there were no available beds at Carseview.
Each time she was taken to the accident and emergency department at Ninewells and then sent home, on two occasions in the early morning.
The couple have a six-year-old daughter and the man said most of the time his wife’s condition was controlled with medication.
Bipolar disorder can cause extreme mood swings but drugs alleviate the effects most of the time.
Over recent weeks the young mother’s mental illness has become severe and the family have been terrified to leave her alone as she has tried to harm herself on a number of occasions.
Her husband said she had received help at Carseview but that was not an option at the moment.
“My wife suffers from the mental health illness bipolar disorder,” he said.Severe low”The condition is controlled by medication and most of the time she is perfectly okay but sometimes she hits a severe low and becomes very depressed and suicidal.
“Any time in the past she has admitted herself to Carseview where she gets excellent care.
“She has been feeling very low and suicidal for a few weeks now and, fearing for her safety, she asked her psychiatrist to get her admitted to Carseview. We were told Carseview was full at the moment and no sign of a bed there is imminent.
“Since she was told this my wife has taken three overdoses, ending up in A&E at Ninewells.
“The first time she was released at 1.30am and I had to get her father to pick her up as we have a six-year-old daughter.Furious”The second time she was released from Ninewells at 2am and taken to Carseview for an assessment then, because there was no bed, they had to release her around 3am and sent her home in a taxi even though still drowsy from the overdose and still suicidal.
“Our whole family are furious about this as we feel her safety was put at severe risk.”
He said that on the third occasion his wife was taken to hospital following an overdose, she was released in the afternoon.
“We are furious that someone who has taken three overdoses in a week cannot get a place in Carseview,” he said.
“I have to watch her 24 hours a day and she feels even worse because she cannot get the help she most desperately wants and needs.”
His wife was offered a place at Sunnyside last week but the family initially refused the offer, but their situation became so desperate, the family accepted the offer and the woman was admitted to the Montrose unit on Monday.
“That is not an ideal situation but she had no choice,” said the husband.
“There is a severe bed crisis in Dundee and Perth.
“We have been told she will be transferred immediately (when) there is a bed available in Carseview but there are other people on the waiting list for Carseview.
“She needs Carseview as she has been there a few times and knows she gets the help she needs there.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said on Tuesday there was no bed shortage in what was “a Tayside-wide service”.
She declined to say whether the Dundee and Perth units were full and denied there was a waiting list, saying the bed situation in specific hospitals changed on a daily basis.
“This lady has been offered an in-patient bed in a psychiatric unit and has now been admitted,” said the spokeswoman.