Paramedic from Ipswich was let down by mental health services, mum says

The mother of a trainee paramedic who took her own life said her daughter was abandoned by her mental health team.

Rebecca McLellan, who had bipolar disorder, was 24 when she died at her flat in Ipswich in November.

Her mother Natalie said her daughter was routinely left without care, despite constantly asking for help.

The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) said it was investigating her death and “working with Rebecca’s family”.

Ms McLellan, who grew up in Clacton, Essex, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2022.

She was originally cared for by a psychiatrist in Essex, but was discharged when they found out she was moving to Ipswich for work.

“Her GP then also threw her out because she was moving,” her mother said. “There was a real lack of support from the start of her diagnosis, despite Rebecca desperately trying to access it.”She was hugely let down.”

Ms McLellan, who worked for the East of England Ambulance Service throughout the pandemic, was then left with no doctor and no psychiatrist.

She managed to find a new GP in Ipswich, who referred her for specialist help.

Ms McLellan was given a care co-ordinator but he went on leave. She sent multiple emails asking who would be replacing him, but they went unanswered.

At times the support was so bad that she took it upon herself to increase her own medication when she was struggling, her mother said, because she could not get advice.

She also resorted to ordering her own drugs online and paying for them.

During a mental health crisis in August, Ms McLellan took herself to a mental health unit in Ipswich, and refused to leave until they helped her.

“She told them she would drive anywhere in Norfolk and Suffolk to see someone, but they told her to leave – they threatened to call the police,” her mother said.

“The lack of support defined her way of thinking about the future. Rebecca was worried she wasn’t going to be well enough to work. She lived for her job.”

Natalie said an urgent referral was made to have her daughter’s medication assessed but it was cancelled by the trust.

Three weeks later, when she saw a psychiatrist, Ms McLellan was told she would have to change to the drug lithium, which she was “terrified” about, Natalie said.

“Rebecca was desperate not to go on that drug, she was worried it would change her whole personality, but she was told it was that or nothing.”

Three days later, she took her own life.

Her mother hopes that by sharing her story it might help change the support available for others in the future.

“Rebecca always engaged with the doctors, she was desperate to get better, but she had to fight for help every step of the way and she could not see it improving,” she said.

“She wanted to be a a paramedic from when she was three years old. All Rebecca wanted was to do the job that she loved.”

Nearly 500 people attended her funeral and the ambulance service provided a guard of honour.

“Rebecca was beautiful, popular and clever,” her mother said. “She had a good job, a lovely flat and car, and family and friends who supported her.

“She was a medical professional and a force of nature who always engaged with professionals and followed the advice she was given.

“If she couldn’t access help, what hope is there for other people?”

Campaigners have written to the chief constables of Norfolk and Suffolk to request a criminal investigation into thousands of mental health deaths in the area.

A report found as many as 8,440 patients had died unexpectedly in Norfolk and Suffolk over three years.

A spokesperson for NSFT said: “Our thoughts remain with Rebecca’s family following Rebecca’s sad death.

“This incident is being investigated using the national Patient Safety Framework. Patient safety incident investigations are conducted to identify new opportunities for learning, improvement to healthcare systems and establish any underlying system factors that contributed to the incident.

“As part of this investigation, we are working with Rebecca’s family to agree robust and inclusive terms of reference, to ensure they are supported through the process.

“Learning from this investigation will help inform improvements, improve safety and quality and reduce the opportunity for incidents like this to happen again.”If you are affected by any of the issues in this article you can find details of organisations that can help via the BBC Action Line.

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