"Mental Health Assessment"

I had a morning mental health assessment set up at the Ollerton health centre, when I got there, I waited for about 20 minutes and then the secretary rang through to the assessment unit, was told that someone from the unit would ring back and let her know what was happening as nobody was aware of this appointment. 15 minutes later, they rang back only to inform her that the person who was due to see me today had actually called in sick.

I was informed that this is not the first time that the department has done this as it happened last week too. I am not very happy as this appointment was set up via the crisis team in Newark as I have struggled since my brother killed himself 2 years ago.

I feel like I have been messed around by the mental health team as a whole ever since ‘Lets Talk’ being about as helpful as a chocolate fireguard as I feel that their opinion at the beginning was, if I feel that bad, I need the crisis team and they can't do anything to help me. At that point I was already under the crisis team and was looking for further support to develop the skills needed.

I have Temporal lobe epilepsy and had a right temporal lobe resection and right hippocampal removal, as a result of the surgery, I have been left with very little coping skills and have to have regular C. B. T input as requested by my Neurologist based in Oxford at the John Radcliffe. I have never felt as let down by the services in this county as I have done since the death of my brother.

A simple text message from the department or telephone call would have been nice and would have sufficed but it appears that that would have been to much like hard work and also why wasn't cover arranged if the assessor had already called in sick? Surely there is more than just 1 assessor for this department. I've been informed that the department will be in touch with me to rearrange the assessment but in between times whilst I'm dealing with my grief, helping my young children deal with their grief and also undergoing tests for possible further resection brain surgery, I feel that I have been left to just cope. I know I have access to the crisis team and they are very helpful but they are a short term group and I desperately need long term support.