Before Tuesday morning last week I believed:
1. Three weeks previously I had been referred for treatment at a specialist centre, and any day now would receive an appointment letter.
2. The appointment for an assessment would be quite soon, as I’d been told that the treatment was expected to start in 2-3 months time.
So I’d already waited about a quarter to a third of the waiting time, until start of treatment. My life is substantially restricted, so it still seemed like a long while to wait, but I felt it was manageable.
By the Tuesday afternoon I knew:
1. The referral paperwork had been lost in the CMHT email system, before it was sent off.
2. The specialist centre still knew nothing of me, so I was definitely not on the waiting list.
3. The waiting list for an initial appointment was 2-3 months.
In light of this, along with a bit of investigation on the internet, I estimate that after the initial appointment, it will be about an 8-12 month wait to start treatment.
Ummm! So a bit of a difference between what I had previously been led to believe, and the facts. Give you one guess how I was feeling! Gutted. So gutted, I am not able to convey my feelings in words.
I still do not know how I will cope with waiting another year.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
A ride on a roller coaster
Since the last post I feel that I have been on a roller coaster. No, thinking again, it's a helter skelter - down, down, down and smack at the bottom!
On Sunday I heard some snippets of The Politics Show, where Gordon Brown answered questions from an audience of undecided voters. He spoke enthusiastically about the improvements that have been made to the NHS. How marvellous it is to have new hospitals, that people where cancer is suspected are seen within two weeks, and that it is planned to further reduce this to one week. He continued on, until a lady put her hand up, and said something like ‘but it is just not working. My patients are having to wait twelve months for therapy.’ She was a psychologist, and she described the reality experienced by many, as opposed to the view portrayed by senior managers, spokespeople and the Government. Gordon Brown said it was not acceptable, that all the services had guidelines on waiting times, and that he would investigate the situation. I wondered whether to write to Gordon, so as to ensure that he understands that her NHS Trust was not alone with people waiting twelve months for therapy! But really, I just have not got the energy to do that.
I’m not anti the NHS, and I am not sure what we would do without it. I know that many staff work tremendously hard and do an amazing job. I also know that many countries would do anything to have our NHS, so in many ways we are very fortunate. What makes me so angry is when what I hear and read, in the media, is so far removed from my experience, and that of so many other people.
When the psychologist spoke up, I almost shouted out encouragement to her. I sincerely hope that she will not experience any repercussions at work.
I'll post again soon and cover the referral which has been lost before it was sent off, and the extremely long waiting times, that sent me flying into something resembling a rage, and honest, I'm actually not really a rage person. Honestly!
On Sunday I heard some snippets of The Politics Show, where Gordon Brown answered questions from an audience of undecided voters. He spoke enthusiastically about the improvements that have been made to the NHS. How marvellous it is to have new hospitals, that people where cancer is suspected are seen within two weeks, and that it is planned to further reduce this to one week. He continued on, until a lady put her hand up, and said something like ‘but it is just not working. My patients are having to wait twelve months for therapy.’ She was a psychologist, and she described the reality experienced by many, as opposed to the view portrayed by senior managers, spokespeople and the Government. Gordon Brown said it was not acceptable, that all the services had guidelines on waiting times, and that he would investigate the situation. I wondered whether to write to Gordon, so as to ensure that he understands that her NHS Trust was not alone with people waiting twelve months for therapy! But really, I just have not got the energy to do that.
I’m not anti the NHS, and I am not sure what we would do without it. I know that many staff work tremendously hard and do an amazing job. I also know that many countries would do anything to have our NHS, so in many ways we are very fortunate. What makes me so angry is when what I hear and read, in the media, is so far removed from my experience, and that of so many other people.
When the psychologist spoke up, I almost shouted out encouragement to her. I sincerely hope that she will not experience any repercussions at work.
I'll post again soon and cover the referral which has been lost before it was sent off, and the extremely long waiting times, that sent me flying into something resembling a rage, and honest, I'm actually not really a rage person. Honestly!
Friday, 12 March 2010
Mental Health - Talking Therapies: Government Initiatives, NICE Guidelines, and Reality
This week has been very difficult. I’m recovering from severe depression, and also have problems with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). At the moment the OCD is severe, it is having a massive impact on my life and I desperately need therapy. The NICE guidelines (section 2.6.2.4) state that if someone has had a course of CBT for OCD, and then has a relapse, the individual must not be put on the normal waiting list for more therapy, but be given further treatment as soon as possible.
I have a lot of sympathy for the staff who deliver treatment in the NHS. I have been well looked after, by a Community Mental Health Team over the last 2-3 years. However, they just do not have the staff to provide therapy. The required staff have been reduced, and I think that there is only one left. Just one psychologist! So the waiting list for therapy is now 12-18 months. I seriously wonder how long it will be before this lone individual needs therapy too, due to the stress and pressure!
This obviously bears no resemblance to what is documented in the NICE guidelines for treatment of OCD. If my local NHS trust was able to implement these guidelines, I would have started therapy about 4 months ago or maybe even more.
I am also not sure how this equates to the government’s initiative to make ‘talking therapies’ much more readily available. In the area in which I live, even individuals whose lives are severely impacted by mental health difficulties can not receive ‘talking therapies’ in a timely manner.
The local CMHT have referred me for assessment at a specialist centre some distance away, with a view to having treatment there. If I am accepted for this treatment the cost will be covered centrally, not by my local NHS Trust. I appear to fulfil the criteria to qualify for this treatment. I have no idea on the timeframe. Every day I hope that there will be an appointment letter in the post, but as yet it has not come. I am not dealing at all well with the uncertainty – just not knowing whether I will still be waiting for a letter in say three months time, or whether it will arrive next week.
Today, there is an article in a local paper stating that our NHS trust has the biggest deficit in England. It states ‘A spokeswoman said the trust had reduced the debt through a programme that focused on efficiency savings "without compromising quality of services or patient safety".’ I am surprised at how much this has upset me. To me this statement is blatantly untrue. Staff cuts have had a direct effect on my treatment – it has meant that I have to wait and wait and wait for therapy – surely this counts as “compromising quality of services”. I just wish the people who are responsible for the local NHS Trust’s financial mess knew the impact that the cuts are having on lives. But then just suppose they were not affected by this information, suppose they just shrugged it off. Maybe it is better that I just continue in the belief that they might actually care.
I have a lot of sympathy for the staff who deliver treatment in the NHS. I have been well looked after, by a Community Mental Health Team over the last 2-3 years. However, they just do not have the staff to provide therapy. The required staff have been reduced, and I think that there is only one left. Just one psychologist! So the waiting list for therapy is now 12-18 months. I seriously wonder how long it will be before this lone individual needs therapy too, due to the stress and pressure!
This obviously bears no resemblance to what is documented in the NICE guidelines for treatment of OCD. If my local NHS trust was able to implement these guidelines, I would have started therapy about 4 months ago or maybe even more.
I am also not sure how this equates to the government’s initiative to make ‘talking therapies’ much more readily available. In the area in which I live, even individuals whose lives are severely impacted by mental health difficulties can not receive ‘talking therapies’ in a timely manner.
The local CMHT have referred me for assessment at a specialist centre some distance away, with a view to having treatment there. If I am accepted for this treatment the cost will be covered centrally, not by my local NHS Trust. I appear to fulfil the criteria to qualify for this treatment. I have no idea on the timeframe. Every day I hope that there will be an appointment letter in the post, but as yet it has not come. I am not dealing at all well with the uncertainty – just not knowing whether I will still be waiting for a letter in say three months time, or whether it will arrive next week.
Today, there is an article in a local paper stating that our NHS trust has the biggest deficit in England. It states ‘A spokeswoman said the trust had reduced the debt through a programme that focused on efficiency savings "without compromising quality of services or patient safety".’ I am surprised at how much this has upset me. To me this statement is blatantly untrue. Staff cuts have had a direct effect on my treatment – it has meant that I have to wait and wait and wait for therapy – surely this counts as “compromising quality of services”. I just wish the people who are responsible for the local NHS Trust’s financial mess knew the impact that the cuts are having on lives. But then just suppose they were not affected by this information, suppose they just shrugged it off. Maybe it is better that I just continue in the belief that they might actually care.
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