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Care Opinion

Shared care and feeling supported

Posted By correspondenceby83

"Shared care and feeling supported"

About: CGL Birmingham West Heath Surgery

(as a service user),

I've been suffering from health issues and numerous hospital admissions, which led to a lot of pain medication opiates mainly tramadol & ibuprofen plus I began to take more and more medicines, which was affecting my daily activities of daily living I was starting to find that I wasn't able to function at my normal level

It became so bad that I started taking more and more self-medication

This is when I contacted CGL to help with my addiction to opiates, I was given Julia who is seeing me at West Heath Surgery and my GP. Dr Shiah was taking over the prescribing of my esranor with has helped greatly

I would like to take this opportunity to to say how professional my counsellor has been, she is so knowledgeable about her position and when I've had difficulty with my health issues, I honestly can't praise Julia enough whatever the issue is she goes out of her way to help

I feel extremely satisfied that if I have any concerns I know she's at the end of the phone

I have to say that by having all of our meetings at West Heath Surgery really makes it so much easier make it easier to open up when things are troubling and when sometimes you feel as if you may be struggling, I CANT PRAISE SURGERY ENOUGH I.E. DR SHAIH &JULIA

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Responses

Response from Lydia Broom, Service User Involvement Lead at Change Grow Live Birmingham, The Service User Involvement Team, Change Grow Live Birmingham 6 months ago
Lydia Broom
Service User Involvement Lead at Change Grow Live Birmingham, The Service User Involvement Team,
Change Grow Live Birmingham

Submitted on 23/10/2023 at 14:51
Published on Care Opinion at 14:51

picture of Lydia Broom

Dear correspondenceby83

Thank you so much for getting in touch with us and sharing your story.

I'm Lydia and I work within the team at Change Grow Live Birmingham, that listens and responds to people's feedback.

I'm so glad that you have had such a positive experience of getting treatment through our shared care scheme, which enables our workers and Birmingham GPs to work alongside each other to provide support.

I'm really sorry to read you were having such a struggle with your physical health. We understand how quickly and easily self-medication can get out of hand and turn into an addiction, especially when people are experiencing the constant pressure and discomfort of physical pain.

I’m so glad that you reached out to us for support and it's great to hear that you have been provided with an Espranor prescription, and I hope that this has helped you to regain control of the parts of your life your self-medication had been affecting so significantly. It sounds like being able to access this treatment from within your local GP surgery has made your support all the more accessible to you, which is one of the main reasons we value our shared care service so much and I’m really glad you have benefitted from this.

It was lovely to read your kind feedback about Julia and Dr Shaih. It sounds like they have both provided you with amazing support, and I'm really glad that you feel able to speak to Julia about anything that may be troubling you. It so important that people have somebody to turn to, when they are struggling and need to get things off their chest, and it's great to hear that Julia has been that person. I will make sure Julia and Dr Shaih get to read your feedback, and I'm sure they will be extremely appreciative of your praise.

I hope that everything you’re hoping to achieve through the rest of your treatment goes to plan, that your pain is kept as under control as possible and that your future is a bright one.

Thank you again for reaching out to us about your experiences. We really do value your feedback.

Best wishes,

Lydia

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Update posted by correspondenceby83 (a service user)

Hi Lydia, thank you so much for your kind words, I hope that the issues I've been through will help others when they are unsure where or who to turn to.

Once again thank you for your kind words, Lydia 😁

Response from Lydia Broom, Service User Involvement Lead at Change Grow Live Birmingham, The Service User Involvement Team, Change Grow Live Birmingham 6 months ago
Lydia Broom
Service User Involvement Lead at Change Grow Live Birmingham, The Service User Involvement Team,
Change Grow Live Birmingham

Submitted on 24/10/2023 at 15:11
Published on Care Opinion at 15:11

picture of Lydia Broom

Dear correspondenceby83

You are so very welcome. I too hope other people who may be struggling with pain and self medication get to read your story, so they can learn they are not alone, that support is available, and that they shouldn't hesitate to reach out to Change Grow Live for help.

Thank you again and wishing you all the best,

Take care

Lydia

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