"Appalling"

I was referred to St Pauls as I was suicidal, self-harming, had anxiety, depression and panic attacks.

I had an appointment at St Pauls. At this appointment, I had the opportunity to speak about the issues. The man I spoke to then gave me a prescription.

When I went to the pharmacy, they said that what had been prescribed does not exist.

Later on, because I had a sucidal episode, and it was out of hours, I had to go into hospital to see an emergency GP. The GP said that what had been prescribed to me by the person at St Pauls did not exist either. The GP there rang mental health services , and other organisations, just to double check, and they confirmed that what had been prescribed did not exist in the dosage that had been stipulated by the man at St Pauls. So, I spoke to my GP and she was shocked. She read the prescription note and could not believe that the wrong medication had been prescribed. She rang the person in question at St Pauls to find out what they were doing, and he could not give my GP an answer. He was very evasive and ambiguous. She pressed him and he admitted that he had prescribed the wrong medication. My GP said that the man at St Pauls has “no right” to “prescribe anything”.

My GP then prescribed me the correct medication.

Since then, I was promised appointments with a psychotherapist at St Pauls. At the one appointment that I have had, I was kept waiting for an hour before the appointment, without speaking to anyone. There was nobody else waiting in St Pauls at all. No support, or even acknowledgment was given by the receptionist.

For a mental health support establishment, there is astoundingly scarce empathy, compassion or understanding. There’s no competency.

I have not had an appointment since. This was over a year ago. My appointments have all been at inappropriate times (when I am at work) so I have not been able to go, or cancelled, and when I have called to rearrange, the receptionists have been very rude and unhelpful. No appointment has been arranged and I have not heard anything from St Pauls since. I have had to go private.

Clearly, there are several issues with this establishment and what I have expressed has also been expressed by many others here, which accentuates that, at St Pauls, there is an urgent need for significant improvement. It is imperative. I have submitted a formal complaint.