"Extremely upset about attitude of a staff member"

My sister contacted the mental health team a few years ago because she was suffering from severe panic attacks and OCD on top of a physical illness that had completely debilitated her. She was unable to work for 4 months, and due to anxiety and physical health problems was unable to leave the house by herself for quite some time.

The way she was treated by a student doctor at the Poplars was extremely upsetting. She went for an assessment and was made to feel like some kind of delinquent teenager by this particular person, who refused to understand the nature of her illness and how it was affecting her in terms of the fact she had to take 4 months out of work (the only time she has ever not worked in her life, she was a recent graduate at the time, and had always worked, she also helps to run a charity that she feels passionate about and is generally just a lovely girl).

She was made to feel like a lazy delinquent kid who couldn't be bothered, despite being very ill! She was also made to feel like some sort of alcoholic when she answered yes to a question about alcohol (she only drinks occasionally, socially, the odd glass of wine with a meal, like most people) the idea of her being some kind of lazy, delinquent alcoholic was deeply upsetting to my lovely, caring sister who just happens to have suffered from panic attacks, which were debilitating and distressing to her.

She didn't feel able to complain at the time as her self esteem had taken a huge knock. I am only mentioning this now so that this type of an incident does not repeat itself in the Dudley Mental Health team.