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I was told my only option was to try CBT

Posted By TeeTee23

"I was told my only option was to try CBT"

About: Back on Track (Hammersmith and Fulham IAPT)

(as a service user),

I was referred to Back on track for my depression and anxiety, 

I wanted long term counselling that i had received a few years prior but was told they are no longer offering that, and due to the nature of my anxiety and depression I was too complex for the regular short term 6-12 weeks of counselling.

I was told my only option was to try CBT (again short term 6-12 weeks) or pay for long term "low cost" help but choosing that would mean doing my own research on each therapist from a list of people who provide this service, Being Anxious talking to new people even looking through a list of names and numbers was way too daunting, Also the "low cost" is still a cost of a minimum £5 a week which right now this is unaffordable for myself.

So i choose the only other available option of CBT as i felt it was that or nothing and I needed something.

The Staff there are lovely and really kind and understanding and i feel the Therapist really did try their best to help support me. But a few weeks into trying CBT it was felt by them that they can not help or support me as (like i told them at assessment) 12 weeks wouldn't help me and I require longer-term support. 

I felt like I had been pulled onto a lifeboat only to be thrown back to sea only even further away to where I started. 

I got discharged from the service and given a list of "low cost find your own therapist options"  which they know wouldn't work for me. I feel like the mental health services have truly let me down and just washed their hands of me which just puts me in a worse place than where I started.

I truly hope this isn't happening to many others out there as I feel this could really push a person over the edge 

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Responses

Response from Sara Kerry, Patient Experience Coordinator, Central Governance Team, West London NHS Trust 4 years ago
Sara Kerry
Patient Experience Coordinator, Central Governance Team,
West London NHS Trust

Submitted on 03/01/2020 at 09:11
Published on Care Opinion at 09:11

Dear TeeTee23,

Thank you for your post. We are pleased to hear that your experience of the staff at Back on Track was that they are kind and understanding, however we are sorry your experience was that you did not receive the appropriate support to meet your needs.

We can fully understand how frustrating it must be to be told that you would benefit most from long term therapy and then be offered something short term; only to then to be directed to low cost services and have your CBT brought to an end prematurely. That must have been very unsettling for you and we are sorry that left you feeling in a worse position than before you reached out to us.

As a Primary Care psychology service, we are only commissioned to provide short term therapy and unfortunately there are limited resources for long term therapy in Hammersmith and Fulham that are available on the NHS. This is something that we continue to raise as a gap in services and hope that this will change.

In the meantime, I would urge you to make contact with Back on Track directly and ask to speak to a manager, so we can review your care with us and see whether there is anything additional we can do to support you. If you would like to speak to someone outside of the service then you can also contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on 0800 064 3330. Or you can make a formal complaint by contacting complaints@westlondon.nhs.uk or 020 8354 8174.

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