Today I met with Care Minister, Gillian Keegan on behalf of a constituent whose son tragically took his own life five years ago. Having met with this constituent and previously raised this case with both Government ministers as well as the local health trust where this occurred, it is clear this death could have been prevented. A Crisis Triage Rating Scale (CTRS) assessment tool was used by untrained staff to determine his mental condition, which clearly did not accurately reflect the reality of the individual's mental state at that time.
During the meeting, I outlined to Minister Keegan the clear flaws with the CTRS assessment tool. There is a valid argument that this tool should be discontinued or at the very least, amended as in my constituent's case it resulted in a low risk 14/15 assessment. The Minister has ensured me this will be looked into to ensure such a tragic loss of life can be prevented in future. I will continue to work with my constituent and Government on this matter.
