NHS not helping me?

[gatsby12]

Is the NHS really as bad as I hear it is?

[Carolin]

When it comes to mental health, yes I think it is. There is just not enough funding or understanding sadly.

[Ssmith]

I had a severely slipped disc last year bordering on cauda equina syndrome which is an extremely serious condition. I went to A&E after becoming paralysed in my left leg, had an MRI, got sent by ambulance across the country to a specialist unit, had my own room and had the emergency surgery all in 24 hours. The NHS was absolutely brilliant then and i even sent in a letter commending how good they were and if it had not been for their fast action, i would be in a wheelchair now. I made a full recovery, albeit missing the majority of a disc in my back.

When it comes to mental health services, they are shocking, well in York they are. We had our psychiatric hospital shut down within 3 days because the roof was collapsing, despite £2mill worth of repairs going in to it. Inpatients were sent across the country but the majority of them were released back into the community. Imagine that happening in any other medical field. It would be main news and there would be uproar. I have always found the NHS pathetic when it comes to mental health services. It's a brilliant health service everywhere else, but they are too underfunded and not enough specialists to cope. It makes me really angry.

[lior]

It's a political thing. It's a funding thing. And it comes down to what's valued and what's seen as valuable.

One day we will be in a culture where mental health is as recognised as physical health. To get there, in my opinion we all have to be taking action by talking about it and learning about it. I'm really happy that conversations like these are going on, on here - together we are sharing knowledge and this is how we change the world. Let's keep spreading our experiences.

[MyNameIsTerry]

So I've just come back from an emergency appointment that I've booked this afternoon. I was in a state and mentioned how bad i am. I've been told to up my dosage of citalopram as I'm probably not well because I'm not on a high enough dose. When i mentioned that i had already been on a high dose without it working and tried all SSRI's without much success, he told me they will be working, i just need to tell myself that to get better.....

I asked for another referral to the psychiatrist as this has been going on for years and getting more and more severe, to be told that i don't have the option. I literally feel like the only way i can be heard is by going to A&E.

Feeling really deflated and down about this. I'm sick of not being treated and being banded around SSRI's by GP's for 5 years. Is there anyway i can put in a complaint or demand to see a psychiatrist?

Yes, my GP spun me this lie too. When my current med wasn't helping he said he couldn't prescribe above the standard dose (a lie as evidenced by other GP's doing it for people on here and local trust docs I have read since) and that I could see a psychiatrist but it would be on a private basis! I thought this was dodgy at the time and nowadays I know it was a blatant lie.

The fact is, if you are in England or Wales, the NICE pathways cover referrals into Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT) and these are the services that existed prior to IAPT coming along and sitting between them and your GP on the stepped care model. Your GP always has the option of referring you to the CMHT but our mental health issues go through IAPT first as a direct referral before this to CMHT has to be based on something severe as those services are there for immediate referral for more complex needs such as schizophrenia, bipolar, etc so we don't normally get to them for some time after the IAPT route.

The NHS has a complaints policy. You can either complain to the surgery of if you feel you can't do this, there is an independent procedure. Be careful though, the NHS has been quite sneaky and put a clause in about how the independent can't be used afterwards so you only go to the Ombudsman or Parliamentary compplinats procedures:

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1084.aspx?categoryid=68

---------- Post added at 07:51 ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 ----------

Is the NHS really as bad as I hear it is?

I'm surprised you don't get the glowing "jewel in the UK's crown" image the NHS likes to portray outside of the UK. People in the UK have a very different view and have had for decades.

Mental health services are dire. Until IAPT came in a few years back you would wait a minimum of 12 months just to see anyone other than the 10 minutes your GP could give you. Now the wait can be less than 3 months but if IAPT can't help you, and they only do non complex mental health (so a lot of us on here struggle GP's can have next to understanding of antidepressant medication and even now there are still people hooked on Benzo's courtesy of GP's despite the current prescribing guidelines being more than 15 years old on addiction with those meds! For many of us asking your GP which med is best for you is the same as asking your postman. But some people do have really good GP's it has to be said.

For physical issues I walways thought they were good but times change. If you have cancer or something equally life threatening they will sort you out with the best care. Anything of a more elective or chronic nature and you can find them ropey. Go to A&E and you will get the best tests & care going but if they transfer you onto the general wards you will see the standards slip very quickly.

My younger cousin had excellent treatment in A&E at the local hospital and when they couldn't help him any further they transferred him to Birmingham Children's Hospital which is a specialist centre in the UK, and one of the best! They were brilliant and he is alive with very minimal brain damage with a family and a responsible management career.

Now contrast this to my elderly mother's pneumonia. 20 minutes on the phone to the non emergency phoneline they tell us to call (111) to be told it was a suspected heart attack (20 minutes!!!) and an ambulance turning up very quickly with a different set of notes. Then the out of hours GP turned up and told us to never call 111 and only ever call 999 for the emergency service, a complete contradiction to what the NHS tell us to do which shows how GP's think the service is a turkey. She was sent to hospital via the non emergency ambulance service by some very hlpeful nurses who came out and ambulance workers. She had all the tests in A&E and was looked after well. Then she was transferred into the general ward and the conditions were very different. Patients with dementia in distress being ignored by nurses and I can remember the sister saying after several days that she had been on meds that had a dangerous interaction with meds she told them she already took...basically they didn't check first. Luckily she didn't experience a dangerous interaction.

So, anything life threatening, they are great. Beyond that, the crown slips.

[MindBlock]

Most Mind groups will offer Counselling / Psychotherapy for free !

[Ssmith]

Hi Tobz,

The thing is that I'm so severe at the moment, I can't take part in psychotherapy. I'm getting a few hours of sleep a night and this has gone on for months. I'm so sleep deprived, I'm struggling to function and am now pretty much completely housebound. I had a doctors appointment last week where I begged and begged for help, only to be told there was nothing they could do and that I would have to wait for my referral for the CMHT which I'm still waiting for now, 4 weeks after being referred. It really is a joke and makes me angry that they will only ever act urgently when someone is a risk and that shouldn't be the way. I have no intention of hurting myself, and the doctors know that. Because of that, I'm not treated as urgent. I've even thought about lying so that I can get help quicker.

In 7 months, I've been tried on 2 medications, neither worked, and been referred to IAPT who told me a few weeks ago I would have to wait an additional 8 months to see anybody. It's ridiculous . A few months back, I might have been able to interact with psychotherapy but I feel I'm too bad now and that the only route to get me out of this deep deep hole is medication. I look a state, when usually I'm a well kept, proud 25 year old. I have quite a wide circle of close friends, none of which really know what's going on and I've hardly seen any of them with how bad I've been. A few days ago, I decided to write a letter to my MP describing my situation and how in the 21st century, no-one should have to wait this long to be helped.

Sorry for ranting. I'm just really angry by it all. I've been left with very little support by anybody, espcecially the medical professionals. I've had extreme tiredness for 7 months which I've never had before. I've had blood tests but not once have I been referred for a sleep study or anything like that. I just feel like they want nothing to do with me when all I want is to get better