"Awful. Waste of time and hope. I have been..."

I Googled ‘trauma counselling Nottingham’ and found information for the Centre for Trauma Resilience and Growth. I printed off the information and showed it to my GP. He agreed to refer me as he thinks I have PTSD, caused by a horrendous ordeal in an NHS hospital. The website states if they feel the service is right for you, you’ll hear within 6-8 weeks. Yesterday, when it had been 9 weeks since I saw the GP I called the Centre for Trauma and left a voicemail stating I’d not heard anything. An employee called me back today and said they are no longer accepting new referrals and have not been for some time, as the service may be closing due to funding. She explained they’d written to my GP to tell him this. She said there is another place I can possibly go to that is a part of their trust, but I’d have to be referred all over again.

I am very angry and upset that I have wasted over 2 months for nothing. I have been waiting and waiting for a letter to arrive. Had I not called yesterday, I would never have known. I called my GP surgery. The receptionist said the service had written to them on 13.3.19, so at least they replied fairly quickly, but I think I should have been sent a letter too explaining all of this. My GP is away at the moment, so I have not even been referred to the new place yet. Now the process of trying to get help has to start again and I’m sure it will be months before I hear anything. All I can do in the meantime is keep ringing the Samaritans, but that’s not ideal as it’s a different person every time and I have to explain all my problems and go through the whole story each time.

What I’d like to know is why they did not update their website to say they’re not accepting new patients. That way, had I seen it in back in February I would have known not to waste my time. It has also created more work for my GP, who now has to write another letter to refer me elsewhere. I have reported this matter to CQC.