"Bunker mentality"

Earlier this year I was discharged by the North Ayrshire Adult Community Mental Health Team based at The Three Towns Resource Centre. Over the last few years the treatment I received from this service and wider mental health services has been appalling. This is reflected in a complaint I submitted being upheld by NHS Ayrshire and Arran and the SPSO. However, the service failed to acknowledge this and other failings (including not responding to me when I was at crisis point) which contributed further to a lack of trust and respect between all parties.

In particular the doctor I was under continued for several years with an antagonistic and accusatory approach, was dismissive of anything I had to say, delayed a referral by almost two years, cancelled CPN input by way of ultimatum and dismissed the advice of another doctor after seeking their opinion. This doctor went on to falsely claim I was a danger to my child saying a referral would have to be made to Child Protective Services; thankfully this wasn’t followed through.

Frequently they would apply labels and make statements which were a completely inaccurate portrayal of me or my circumstances. This was often played out in front of other staff members which helped give leverage to the false claims and statements. This in turn led to the wider team including management acting as though they have a bunker mentality where it seemed to me like defending their colleagues was more important than my welfare as a patient or acknowledging previous mistakes/shortcomings.

Sadly the only consistency I have observed from this service has been their the woeful underperformance in recent years, perhaps reflected in their inability to timeously update their outdated operating procedures.