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Care Opinion

Adult Mental Health Services

Posted By Ilovecats

"Adult Mental Health Services"

About: Adult mental health

(as the patient),

I have been in severe distress with growing suicide ideation. I spoke to the local out of hours Crisis Team (the person I spoke to was brilliant). This person suggested that I book an appointment with my ex consultant (no longer under his care) as I needed help.

Notes on the local computer system said that my ex consultant had welcomed me making an appointment if ever I needed to see him so I was not imagining this part. I tried to do this only to find that he had had a complete turn around and would only see my if the CPN thought it necessary.

I do not have an appointment with this CPN for another 2 weeks so by then the "crisis" will either be over or I might take a more successful overdose this time (my husband caught me attemtping suicide). In the end it was suggested that I visit our local Adult MH Services duty desk which I have done. The person I saw was lovely, kind and listened. They said that I am having a crisis at the moment, would write out a report and ensure my ex consultant and CPN get a copy. What they will do with that information I do not know.

I have a WRAP and am well aware of "mindfulness" but was past being able to use either.

It took a lot of courage for me to call even the Crisis Team because I have huge guilt issues over wasting the healthcare system's time in that somebody more deserving needs their help or because I feel that I am a fraud who is about to get caught out (healthcare professionals constantly reassure me that neither is true).

Because of the reaction of my ex consultant I now feel even more worthless and even more guilty for making any calls in the first place. I feel as if they now think I am making things up (which I am not) and should either be ignored or wiped away. I feel let down by the system just when I needed it most.

Maybe if I was the sort of patient / service user that created a fuss all the time I would be listened to and helped through.

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Responses

Response from Amy Gaskin-Williams, Team member, Patient Opinion 12 years ago
Amy Gaskin-Williams
Team member,
Patient Opinion

Submitted on 06/09/2011 at 11:07
Published on Care Opinion at 11:07

picture of Amy Gaskin-Williams

Dear Ilovecats,

Thanks so much for your posting.

I wanted to get in touch to apologise for a mix up with the way your posting was assigned. I'm afraid that we didn't notice on publishing that your posting was assigned to Southern Health and Social Care Trust (in Ireland), rather than to Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust (in Hampshire). As such, the trust were not alerted to your posting and were therefore not aware that you had posted feedback about their services on Patient Opinion.

I have contacted the trust this morning to let them know about your posting, and I am sure they will respond to your concerns.

We pride ourselves on being very careful to ensure postings are assigned to the right services to make sure all feedback is heard by the right people but in this case, with the names being so similar, it went by undetected. I'm so sorry about this.

With my sincere apologies,

Amy, at Patient Opinion

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Response from Consumer Experience and Engagement Officer, Consumer Experience and Engagement Team, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust 12 years ago
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 06/09/2011 at 16:51
Published on Care Opinion at 16:55

Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback on our Adult Mental Health Services. I am sorry to hear of the problems you had when you tried to see your consultant. Please do not think you are wasting anyone's time by contacting our services. Patient Advice and Liaision Service (PALS) and Complaints can help you with such matters. I urge you to contact them either if you are continuing to have problems seeing your consultant or have similar problems in the future. They can be contacted directly as follows: tel 023 8087 4065, e-mail: hp-tr.complaints@nhs.net or write to: Freepost RSJL-JXSX-ATUE, PALS and Complaints 5-6 Sterne Road, Tatchbury Mount, Calmore, Southampton SO40 2RZ. They offer confidential, on the spot help and advice. They also act independently of clinicial teams and liaise with staff, with your consent, to help you find a solution.

I am pleased to hear that the initial response from the Out of Hours Crisis Team was good and that the Adult Mental Health Services Duty Desk listened to your concerns. Thank you for letting us know.

I will now pass your comments on to the Directorate Lead for Adult Mental Health Services for further comment. You will receive their comment in the next few days.

It would be helpful if you could let us know which area or city, or which crisis team this relates to. This would enable us to give you more detailed feedback and also feedback to the team your concerns, and also when you said they were helpful.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to give this feedback. It is important that we know about such things when you are asking for help from our services, particularly in times of crisis.

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Update posted by Ilovecats (the patient)

Thank you for your response.

For information the Crisis Team are based at Parklands Hospital, Basingstoke.

If you need any further information do please let me know.

Thanks

Response from Diane Parmee, Consumer Experience and Engagement Officer, Consumer Experience and Engagement Team, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust 12 years ago
Diane Parmee
Consumer Experience and Engagement Officer, Consumer Experience and Engagement Team,
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Deal with patient feedback, both encouraging it and then ensuring feedback is dealt with effectively. Engage with the public to ensure they know what's going on in the Trust, also to consult them on planned changes.

Submitted on 13/09/2011 at 14:37
Published on Care Opinion on 14/09/2011 at 11:47

The Divisional Director for Adult Mental Health has now provided the following response:

'Thank you for your feedback and I am sorry to hear about your situation. I would also urge you to contact PALS and Complaints, as stated above, who can, with your consent, look into these concerns and liaise directly with the Crisis Team on your behalf'.

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Update posted by Ilovecats (the patient)

Thank you Diane but I feel that if I do make an official complaint it would prejudice any future care or care plan I have. Not sure what to do next.

Response from Diane Parmee, Consumer Experience and Engagement Officer, Consumer Experience and Engagement Team, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust 12 years ago
Diane Parmee
Consumer Experience and Engagement Officer, Consumer Experience and Engagement Team,
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Deal with patient feedback, both encouraging it and then ensuring feedback is dealt with effectively. Engage with the public to ensure they know what's going on in the Trust, also to consult them on planned changes.

Submitted on 16/09/2011 at 11:24
Published on Care Opinion at 15:48

Please be assured that any concerns or complaints raised should not compromise the care you receive. This would be in breach of Trust policy and could be a complaint in itself. Bear in mind that you do not have to raise an official complaint for these concerns to be addressed. PALS can, with your consent, raise these concerns direct with the team to try and find a resolution for you. It might be worth giving PALS a call on 023 8087 4065 who will explain this in further detail. As I said before they cannot contact the team in question without your consent, so there is no need to worry about your care being compromised.

You have recently informed Patient Opinion of which team your concerns relates to. Due to their editorial policy this could not be published. Nevertheless Patient Opinion have informed me of this. I have now passed this onto the Divisional Director for Adult Mental Health and requested a further response which should be posted here in the new few days.

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Response from Consumer Experience and Engagement Officer, Consumer Experience and Engagement Team, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust 12 years ago
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 15/11/2011 at 12:15
Published on Care Opinion on 16/11/2011 at 09:15

The Adult Mental Health Area Manager has now given the following response to your concerns.

I am very sorry that you had difficulty in accessing a consultant psychiatrist when you needed to do so. Services try to respond to all service users when they are in need. A reminder has been sent to all staff emphasising the importance of responding to people in crisis.

If you would like to discuss this experience in more detail, then please call Rosemary Clark, who is manager of the Community Mental Health Team to which you refer, who would be pleased to listen to your concerns. The telephone number of the service is: 01256 316300.

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