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Care Opinion

Crisis care at night

Posted By madperson

"Crisis care at night"

About: Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust / Adult Mental Health Crisis Services

(as a service user),

I have complained so many times and nothing is getting better

This time a response of-we know it’s not working and we need to improve things-is just not going to cut it

So many times I ring when I am distressed at night and no one answers the phone. To then be bombarded with leave your name, date of birth, telephone number and the team you are open to is just too overwhelming when you are distressed 

I rang so many times during the night last night and couldn’t leave a message. Finally just after 5am I left what I know was a clear message asking for someone to ring me

I was struggling and feeling suicidal. I had hurt myself during a mental health crisis and needed help

I felt reassured that I had finally been able to leave a message and trusted that someone would ring me and I could get the help I needed

However, as is very normal recently no one rang me back and I am now sat outside the hospital trying to find the courage to go in and get some help

If there is no support at night why not just be honest and say so and I won’t spend hours waiting for help that never comes

This is putting my life at risk and I need to get something resolved as quickly as possible

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Responses

Response from Michael Taylor, Service Manager, Adult Mental Health County, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 9 months ago
Michael Taylor
Service Manager, Adult Mental Health County,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 20/07/2023 at 13:30
Published on Care Opinion at 13:30

Dear madperson,

I am sorry to hear about the difficulties you've experienced when trying to contact our crisis service. We have had numerous issues since we changed our phone system and we are working very hard with our telephony colleagues to overcome these difficulties however this is a long process.

I would urge you to continue phoning the crisis service when you experience a mental health crisis and I will alert the team leader to the difficulties you have experienced.

Yours sincerely

Michael Taylor

Service Manager

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by madperson (a service user)

This is the same response that I’ve had for a long time and nothing is changing - in the mean time I am struggling

Why would I keep ringing the crisis team if no one answers the phone or returns your call?

Response from Amy Palmer, Involvement, Experience and Volunteering Lead, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 8 months ago
Amy Palmer
Involvement, Experience and Volunteering Lead,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

My role is to encourage and help staff to capture, respond and act upon feedback, to work together with patients and carers to improve services and to raise awareness of volunteering and its benefits within the trust.

Submitted on 10/08/2023 at 17:09
Published on Care Opinion on 11/08/2023 at 09:40

picture of Amy Palmer

Hi Madperson,

I would like to introduce myself; my name is Amy and part of my role is overseeing the feedback that comes in regarding Mental Health services.

I was so sorry to hear about your experience when trying to access help, our advice is that whenever in Mental Health Crisis the first place to try for support is to phone the crisis line and therefore I also urge you to phone the Crisis line if you are ever in Mental Health Crisis again to obtain help. However, recognising that you have had issues getting through on the phone system I also thought it may be useful for you to know about Crisis Sanctuaries where you can access crisis support in person or via a phone call. More information can be found here: Home | Nottinghamshire Crisis Sanctuaries

Thank you for taking time to share your story with us, I know that the response you have received was not what you wanted to hear, but I would like to assure you that work is going on to try and rectify the problems with the phone line as soon as possible.

Wishing you the best with your onwards health journey,

Amy Palmer

Involvement, Experience and Volunteering Lead, Mental Health Services.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by madperson (a service user)

This problem has been going on for months and in the mean time I have had 4 surgical procedures due to lack of response at night.

The crisis sanctuaries are ok - but only open until 11pm and I struggle between 2-4am so that is no help. When I ring the sanctuaries in distress they are more intent on getting my name and details than calming me down, listening and grounding me before trying to get that information that I know they need. I usually put the phone down.

Night time crisis care is a joke and putting lives at risk.

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