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Care Opinion

MHAS

Posted By Goodnight

"MHAS"

About: Royal Edinburgh Hospital / General Psychiatry

(as a service user),

I recently phoned MHAS during an afternoon after having phoned my GP and been advised I should contact MHAS. I have made previous attempts on my life and things had gotten really bad again, were worse than they had ever been before. I've been seeing things that aren't there and I've been completely unable to cope. The person who took the call told me MHAS only works out-of-hours and to go back to my GP. They also told me not to bother contacting mental health services unless I could say exactly what kind of help I need.

At the end of the day I don't really care that much because of my state of mind.  But I can't help wonder how many people are having similar experiences of MHAS. 

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Responses

Response from Brian McAuley, General Manager, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, NHS Lothian 3 years ago
Brian McAuley
General Manager, Royal Edinburgh Hospital,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 15/12/2020 at 11:40
Published on Care Opinion at 11:44

Dear 'Goodnight'

Thank you very much for sharing your story with us. l am sorry to read how difficult things are for you at this time and that you did not feel as though you got the support from MHAS you needed. The Mental Health Assessment Service is always available to contact when experiencing mental health crisis however on occasion a person’s expectation of contacting the service can differ from what is thought to be the best clinical approach for the person’s needs and I’m sorry this has been your experience on this occasion.

If you feel able, I would ask that you get in touch with the Patient Experience Team to see how we can help. Their contact details are;

Email – feedback@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk

Telephone – 0131 536 3370

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Goodnight (a service user)

Dear Brian,

Thank you for responding.

The person who took the call did not check how I am or assess me. Their response to my call was to tell me they don't work at this time (it was 11 am) and to go to my GP. When I said that my GP had told me to call them, they asked me what for. I said because I'm really struggling and they told me that's not what they're here for, I can't just call saying I'm struggling, I need to know exactly what kind of support it is I need before I call otherwise they can't help me.

I get the feeling you don't believe me. Why would someone blow their anonymity and risk even more stigma from a service by contacting the Patient Experience Team when your response is so clearly invalidating? I'm a doctor myself and can't believe how appalling the service is. If you reply to tell me that calls are recorded then yes, I will contact the Patient Experience Team so you can look into it. But if it's going to just be a case yet again of you hearing me and dismissing me because my word isn't good enough, then no, I'm sorry, I have had enough of that already.

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