Call for Scottish Government action on mental health failings contributing to spike of incidents on the Kessock Bridge
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A charity co-founder is calling for urgent Scottish Government action on the mental health crisis fuelling rising numbers of "concern for welfare" incidents on the Kessock Bridge.
Mark Smith, co-chairman of the Joshi Project, said thousands were “living lives of abject misery” as a result of NHS Highland mental health service failings.
The mental health charity was set up by Mr Smith and his wife Catherine after the tragic death of their daughter Joshi in January 2020.
The 24-year-old lost her lifetime struggle against depression and anxiety, with the family blaming the failure of mental health professionals to provide adequate care and support.
Mr Smith has sent an open letter to Kevin Stewart MSP, the Scottish minister for mental wellbeing and social care, after new figures showed police call-outs to the Kessock Bridge in response to incidents of concern had hit a five-year high.
In 2022, police responded to 203 incidents where someone was at serious risk of harm.
That compared to 120 such incidents in 2021, 69 in 2020, 8 in 2019 and 78 in 2018.
There was a spate of bridge closures in August and September last year, with a similar spike in incidents causing concern, and serious disruption for motorists, in December last year and January.
The Joshi project is campaigning for “a revolution in mental health treatment in Scotland” based on the World Health Organization (WHO) recognised ‘Trieste model’ of care.
It is said to have operated successfully in the Italian city for more than 40 years and is based on a network of walk-in community mental health centres where individuals receive advice, treatment and counselling, delivered with "compassion and dignity".
Mr Smith copied in Highland councillors and Scottish parliamentarians including SNP leadership candidate Humza Yousaf, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for health and social care.
Referring to the rise in the number of Kessock Bridge incidents, he told Mr Stewart MSP: “This is an untenable situation. Those people who end up as statistics… are just the tip of the iceberg.
“Thousands of others are living lives of abject misery as a result of the failings of NHS Highland’s system of mental health services.
“This robs our society, our communities and our country of the precious contributions of thousands of people who deserve much better. Our communities also deserve better, as does our country.
“You have a ticking timebomb on your watch as Scotland’s Minister for mental wellbeing and social care.
“You must do something to change this - not just in the Highlands, but all across Scotland. Installing CCTV on Kessock Bridge is not going to solve the crisis.”
Pressing the Joshi Project's objectives, Mr Smith said that, until recently, the charity had been in partnership negotiations with NHS Highland to set up a pilot programme in Inverness based on the Trieste model, which is now established in 30 countries.
now been established in 30 other countries including six NHS trusts in England and Wales. He added: “I have been told many times by NHS Highland management that procedure dictates that real change will only come when the government provides them with a policy directive for change. The rest, Mr Stewart, is up to you.
“We have within our grasp the opportunity to make Scotland one of the most progressive, caring, compassionate and successful places for mental health recovery in the UK.
“A pilot in Inverness could easily roll out to communities across the country.”
