"Don’t get your hopes up."

After being referred to Canada House with severe anxiety and an Eating Disorder, I had an initial assessment, where I was told that the service would be able to help me, and I was left hopeful. Being mentally and physically unwell as a result, I was informed that a Care Coordinator would regularly monitor me whilst I was on a waiting list for a Secondary Psychological Services referral, which was all put down in a written Care Plan, and sent to both my GP and myself.

From here onwards I received no communication, apart from a single (brief and inconsiderate) phone call which only happened after multiple phone calls to the service chasing it up. 4 months on from my initial assessment I hadn’t had a single appointment to check on either my mental or physical health. After complaining to PALS I finally got an appointment with a Doctor, who informed me that despite waiting on ‘Active Review’ for 4 months, there was no record of a Psychology referral, and this had not even been started, despite it being written in my Care Plan months before.

The doctor informed me that there was no intention of even starting a referral, and that I would be best to be discharged and refer myself to Medway Talking Therapies, and start taking antidepressants in the meantime. I have now been discharged from the CMHT’s services, having received no psychological support whatsoever. More than 6 months on from the beginning of this process, I am now at the bottom of a waiting list for Medway Talking Therapies.

I advise that you are honest with patients when they are referred to your service. If someone had been honest with me in the beginning of this process and not claimed I was on a waiting list, I would have received psychological help from elsewhere months ago, and been able to start living my life again.