Waiting times for early intervention in psychosis, published by the NHS, reveal that over a thousand people referred for treatment by their GP are yet to receive any form of treatment for the mental health problem.
Experts are warning that the NHS needs to start acting on their own advice for the safety of the patient and the community.
Dr Durrani, consultant psychiatrist and group medical adviser at UK Addiction Treatment (UKAT), said: “It is extremely worrying that in a developed country in 2019, over a thousand vulnerable and scared people are continuing to suffer with a serious mental health problem and could well be trying to mask their symptoms of paranoia, hallucinations and/or delusions with drugs or alcohol.
“Doing so puts them on a slippery slope into an extremely dangerous state of substance-induced psychosis, putting themselves and others around them at risk of harm."
The data shows that 1,183 people are still waiting to start some form of treatment since they were first referred, with 10 per cent of those still waiting after 12 weeks.
Of those surveyed, around 600 people still waiting for treatment are based in the North of England, with 267 living in the Midlands and East of England, 151 in London, 81 in the South West and 89 in the South East.
https://www.homecare.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1604632/people-with-psychosis