Will Young wants to help "change" the way alcoholics are treated.
Will Young
The 'Leave Right Now' hitmaker spoke up at the inquest of his late brother Rupert - who took his own life in July 2020 after leaving hospital without telling one - on Monday (25.01.21) to question why a psychiatrist wasn't asked to assess his twin and why addiction services suggested alcoholics like his brother use alcohol to wean themselves off the drink, and later promised to try and instigate change.
He wrote on his Instagram Story: "The poor NHS and emergency services are asked to handle mental health crises where they are overworked and often under qualified.
"The system needs such a shake up to support care workers.
"As well as this in 20 years of dealing with an alcoholic brother, the methods are so paradoxical.
"I thank the coroner's court and the media who covered my thoughts and concerns over Rupert's death and I look forward to hopefully working with others to change this.
"Families who have to deal with these issues, you are never alone."
Will suggested the treatment offered to Rupert hadn't been "caring".
He told St. Pancras Coroner's Court: "In my experience with Rupert, my twin, he was given medication to aid with the withdrawals.
"However when he was either discharged or as a pattern for Rupert, absconded, he wasn’t allowed to take this anymore.
"They are asked to wean themselves off by drinking alcohol. Do you think an alcoholic drinking 40 beers a day, do you think it’s at all viable, sensible, maybe even caring, to ask an alcoholic to then wean themselves off with the very drug they are dependent on?"
He was told by senior coroner Mary Hassell that the question was not allowed to be put to the witness, a mental health nurse who authored a report that deemed Rupert's treatment "appropriate".
And afterwards, Will insisted the mental health system needs a "shake up" and methods of care ought to be overhauled.
After the hearing, the 42-year-old star admitted he believed his brother - who had made "countless" suicide attempts in the past - "might still be alive today" if he had been detained under the Mental Health Act before his death.
He said outside the court: “Those working for the NHS do an amazing job and within very difficult circumstances and it’s never been more hard-pressed than at the moment.
“However my brother is someone who had, in the weeks and months before his death, been into hospital countless times following suicide attempts.
“I am astounded that Rupert, having been found trying to jump off Westminster Bridge on July 28, was allowed to leave hospital two days later yet again, without ever having been referred to a consultant psychiatrist.
“It is my belief that it must or should have been obvious to all concerned that he was a high risk of suicide and should have been detained under the Mental Health Act for his own safety.
“Had this been done he might still be alive today. I know we are not the only family in this situation and I pray that lessons are learned from his situation and some of these deaths are prevented in the future."
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