A woman has raised concerns over the mental health treatment her wife is receiving as she is discharged from hospital multiple times despite repeated attempts on her own life.
The woman, who does not wish to be named, says that her wife was admitted to a mental health unit earlier this year following a number of suicide attempts and incidents of self-harm and had stayed there until the end of last week when she was discharged. She had been told that the best treatment plan for her was to recover at home.
For the first 24 hours after this first discharge, she says that her wife was in good form and happy to be out of the mental health unit, however this quickly deteriorated and she had to take her to A&E after she took an overdose.
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She was discharged from A&E on Monday and a few hours later she made another attempt on her life and self-harmed and had to return to hospital again.
The woman's wife left the hospital and the police had to be called who found her and returned her to hospital, where she made another attempt on her life.
She says that she pleaded with doctors to admit her wife as she was not able to keep her safe and she did not have the capacity to look after herself, however she was discharged again hours later.
On Tuesday, her wife returned to hospital again to beg for help, but was told that being admitted was not an option for her and she left the hospital and made another attempt on her life and had to be taken to A&E.
On Wednesday morning she was discharged from hospital again with mental health doctors saying they "couldn't guarantee her safety in a secure facility".
Speaking to Belfast Live, the woman's wife said she felt that her partner was being failed by mental health service who are not recognising the danger that the woman is to herself.
She said: "We are in need of urgent help and I am terrified that my wife is going to end up seriously injured or worse if she is not able to be admitted and given the help that she needs at this time.
"Since she was discharged from the unit we have been back and forth from hospitals begging for help, which we feel is falling on deaf ears despite the repeated attempts she has made on her own life.
"At first we were told that the most suitable place for her would be to recover at home, which I would understand in any other situation, but after what has happened she is clearly a risk to herself. Now we are being told that she cannot be admitted because the trust can't guarantee her safety at a mental health unit.
"While the staff at the A&E have been very understanding and the support they have given us has been brilliant, whenever we speak with the mental health teams it feels like we are being knocked back and ignored.
"I feel like she is being completely failed and that more could be done to give her the help and support that she needs until she is actually in a position to recover from home. I would love nothing more for us all to go home and get back to being a happy family again, but that is just not possible at this time and she needs urgent support."
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