"Disappointing Service and feeling forgotten"

I had been referred to Cambridge St House (Primary Care Mental Health Team) by my doctor. The only way which I can describe my experience is disappointing and laughable.

I attended my initial appointment at the start of the year. I arrived to the clinic in time. However, it was not until 40 minutes after my appointment time that the doctor decided to make an appearance. Reception could only apologise for the delay. It transpired that the doctor had not noticed that they were due to see someone. The doctor spoke to me for 5 minutes before ushering me out and told me that I would get a letter in a few weeks for another appointment.

It has been 8 months since my "initial appointment". I never did receive a letter. I phoned up recently to enquire why I had not heard the slightest from anyone at Cambridge St House. The receptionist- the only helpful member of staff I have encountered- claimed that my initial appointment, which I waited 40 minutes for, had been "cancelled" in the clinical records. I was never informed of this by anyone before or during those pitiful five minutes with the doctor.

The receptionist told me I had been discharged from the CMHT. This was without any prior written or verbal intimation, and that I had somehow been "lost" among all the other patients. Furthermore, in this recent phone call, the lead consultant psychiatrist claimed that they thought no further appointment was necessary because I was being seen by another specialist service (I'm not seeing a psychiatrist at this current service). However, I was not being seen by this other specialist service until 5 months after my appointment at Cambridge St House, so this is a flimsy excuse. During those five months I was profoundly suicidal and alone. I was ignored by those at Cambridge St House for many months without proper help for my mental health, when it was their responsibility to provide it.

The lead psychiatrist said that if I wanted to access to the CMHT, I would need another referral from my GP. Why should my doctor have to refer me again, when it was the psychiatrists at Cambridge St House who didn't follow the protocol? Why should I have wait months for a real initial appointment? Bureaucracy and mind-blowing incompetence over common sense and the emotional pain of another.