"Mental Health"

I was in the RAF for years. I got first rate mental health care there- no waiting lists, frequent appointments and I always felt my mental health was supported and treated before it got out of hand.

What a shock therefore to leave the service and be treated by the Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust when I became a civilian. Appointments weeks apart, little support, limited service.

I had read the Healthcare Commissions report which said they were excellent but the care I recieved bore little resemblance to what the Healthcare Commission seemed to think was on offer.

I got so little support for my depression that I became suicidal. Even then I was only offered appointments weeks apart. I was given the number of a crisis unit but they rarely answered the phone and even when they did they refused to visit. In the end my parents came to visist and took my back to their house in Scotland. Within hours of arriving I was seen by a CPN and admitted to hospital as a psychiatric emergency. Yet in Lincolnshire I was assessed as not even needing a visit.

When I complained to staff in Lincolnshire that I got seen much more often - sometimes daily - by the RAF cpns I was told that the RAF saw people too often and admitted people too quickly - that they looked after people in the community in Lincolnshire - but I feel they do not support you enough here and the CPN in Scotland agreed I should have been admitted.

If I get ill again I will definitely not be staying around here for help.

Maybe the Healthcare Commission should look beyond facts and figures and speak more to service users on the ground to find out what is actually going on. Care is far from excellent.