"I was unhappy with the service provided"

I arrived exactly on time for my appointment, but there was nobody at the reception desk, so after 10 minutes, I became worried, in case my name might have been called early. I telephoned the clinic and when I got a response, I found that I was still going to be seen. I was eventually seen about 20 - 25 minutes late, but this made me anxious. (I had been anxious about referring myself in the first instance and had been given a same day appointment, which was good, but the reception experience was stressful.)

I was assessed by a psychologist, who was keen to follow a very structured process, which became distressing, as I had been looking for help with pain management and this was my third attempt to access a suitable service. The structured assessment stirred up all sorts of other deep-rooted problems from many years ago and I was upset by a near insistence that I should be weighed, even though I explained that I had been weighed three times recently at other outpatients appointments and was under the care of a specialist dietitian, gastro-enterologist and rheumatologist, all of whom had weighed me very recently.

The psychologist I saw made some suggestions as to what might be on offer, but then telephoned me a few days later to say I was to be referred to a CMHT. I did not consent to this, although I asked some questions which the psychologist said would be pursued, so that I could decide whether to accept a referral. However, the next day I had an hour long call from a mental health nurse in the CMHT, even though I had not consented to the referral. The psychologist did not call me back until the next day. I said that I had already had a long call from a duty worker at the CMHT, but the psychologist denied that a referral had been made. Clearly a detailed discussion had been had - this was obvious from the CMHT call.

The psychologist knew from what I had said, that I had already sought help and experienced being passed from one service to another, without getting help. In the circumstances, I felt the referral onwards was insensitively managed. I was further concerned to receive a copy of the psychologist's letter, sent to my GP, which contained what I regard as significant inaccuracies. I realise that this can happen all too easily in an emotional assessment meeting, but I felt unhappy about these inaccuracies and the conclusions drawn with regard to my inflammatory bowel disease. As my case was simply closed as soon as I was referred to the CMHT and I had already felt as though the service had rejected my self-referral, I have not felt able to communicate with Newham Talking Therapies to correct the inaccuracies, but I am unhappy nevertheless that these have been conveyed to my GP.