‘We've had more than enough': Bereaved NI families demand action on mental health services
Ms Leahy led a 10-year campaign for a public inquiry into more than 2,000 mental health-related deaths in Essex between 2000 and 2023.
Professor Phil Scraton also backed the families during the meeting hosted by New Script for Mental Health, a grassroots mental health rights movement.
The Queen's University professor led the Hillsborough Independent Panel's research, and played a key role in uncovering the truth behind the 1989 disaster that killed 97 football fans. His book, Hillsborough: The Truth, is widely seen as the definitive account of the disaster.
Ms Leahy, whose son Matthew (20) died in 2012 while a patient at a mental health facility, described more than a decade of 'fighting for the truth'.
She said she has been in contact with the Northern Ireland families for several months after coming across their campaign on social media.
She said: 'I hope my determination serves as a powerful reminder that truth will find its way, no matter what the obstacles.'
Ms Gould, whose 21-year-old son Conall died in 2017 following a struggle with mental health, said the current situation was a 'scandal'.
She described the standards of care within mental health as 'atrocious', and said she feels that those who speak out 'have our voices silenced by a system unwilling to acknowledge the breadth of this crisis'.
As a gesture of solidarity, Ms Leahy and the Essex campaigners have included a photo of Conall in a montage displayed at the inquiry.
Ms Gould, a midwife from Ballymena, said that over two years after a High Court order, the RQIA has failed to meet its obligation to regulate community mental health services.
'Despite promises and briefings, the protocol it claimed to be developing remains unpublished and unproven,' she added.
The establishment of a procedure for regulating community mental health services was ordered as part of a landmark judicial review ruling in May 2023, following a case taken by the family of Belfast man Gareth Waterworth.
It also required the establishing of a protocol for further investigations.
An RQIA spokesperson said the policy is at 'development stage and being utilised to set out the approach to undertaking an inquiry into any case where it appears that there may be deficiency in care or treatment'.
They added: 'The policy is currently subject to equality screening and RQIA are working closely with the equality unit in Business Services Organisation to support the equality screening of this key policy. On completion of equality screening and final internal quality assurance checks RQIA intend to publish the policy.'
Ms Bell, from Coalisland, lost her uncle Stephen in July 2016, less than two months after he suffered an adverse reaction to an antidepressant.
'We just had absolute blind faith in doctors. So when Stephen was telling us it was the medication, we were saying 'how could medication do that', we didn't dare to delve into it,' Ms Bell said.
She has since campaigned for greater transparency around medication risks.
Sara Boyce, New Script for Mental Health campaign organiser, said: 'Families involved in New Script are united in their desire to ensure that the harm and loss they experienced because of health service failures should never happen to other families.'
She said that in Northern Ireland we 'need to start doing things differently'.
'Over the 15 to 17 years of the campaign, one of the biggest lessons for families has been that trying to fix bits of the mental health service isn't working,' she added.
'As a starting point, we must start listening to families, because families know, because they have lived it.'
News Catch Up - Tuesday 15th July
Ms Boyce said Health Minister Mike Nesbitt needs to 'get a grip', adding that there are failures across the board.
'Families have had more than enough, because lessons are not being learnt,' she said. Ms Boyce also called for greater transparency, saying data on the number of people accessing mental health services and those who have died while under their care must be made public.
Ms Gould pointed to Essex as evidence that the scale of the crisis may be greater than it is believed, noting that more than 2,000 cases were identified there.
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