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Concerned about an assessment with Ealing IAPT

Posted By Wellbeing123

"Concerned about an assessment with Ealing IAPT"

About: Ealing IAPT

(as a service user),

I had an initial assessment with a practitioner. First of all they did not introduce themselves or explain their role/ reason for the call, they just went straight into the questions.

When it came to describing my main problem this practitioner cut me off and started explaining what would be most helpful for me without listening to my own goals. Instead pushing me to list a behavioural goal and offering me Step 2 GSH with either Step 3 Counselling or CBT after, which in my own professional experience should not be offered because Step 2 is considered a standalone treatment and a patient should not be stepped up without review and or clinical supervision. Even though I scored 3 on PHQ-9 Q9 they did not complete a safety plan with me ( although according to my treating therapist this practitioner documented that they did). 

They then sent myself and my GP an assessment summary letter and rather than giving their own clinical judgment on my main problem, they copied a summary of what I had said in the assessment and reduced my risk score from 3 to 2. They also signed the letter only with their name and no job title, so I still have no idea whether they are a PWP or CBT therapist. 

I am aware that there are difficult time constraints and asking clinicians to assess in 30 mins seems very unreasonable and unsafe especially as several others IAPT services offer double the time for assessment however as a clinician myself I am very concerned about the standard of assessment I received. I hope this feedback improves the quality of care your service is providing. 

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Responses

Response from Paul Gibbs, Patient Experience Lead, West London NHS Trust 2 years ago
Paul Gibbs
Patient Experience Lead,
West London NHS Trust

Submitted on 01/11/2021 at 17:01
Published on Care Opinion at 17:01

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the experience that you have had regarding your assessment with Ealing IAPT. Ealing IAPT seeks to ensure a positive patient and carer experience, for all our service users and takes all complaints and comments very seriously.

It is concerning to hear of some of the issues that you have raised regarding the triage and the conduct of the clinician involved. We would like to understand more from you, so that we can address this matter within the service to ensure that this does not happen again. It is even more concerning that the risk you disclosed was not followed up by a safety plan being put in place and to hear that in the GP outcome letter the risk was reduced.

We have a standard signature on all our letters, this should include all the identifiable details of the clinician involved so that any queries can be directed to them. It is not acceptable that this was not the case in your outcome letter.

The triage allocated time does indeed differ slightly form service to service, but it always advisable that all client's concerns are covered in the triage assessment. It is possible that at times a second assessment is required on a case-by-case scenario to ensure that we have captured all the information required to make a well informed discission on what support is appropriate. Particularly where risk is concerned, which in your case seems was not conducted thoroughly.

I am concerned that you scored 3 on risk and whether you were offered the emergency / crisis numbers or not. As we do not have any client identifiable information, I am not able to get in contact with you directly but have listed the numbers for your connivence below.

I would like to suggest that you contact me directly as the Ealing IAPT complaints handler so that I can discuss this with you in further detail and more importantly to address all of these points with the clinician concerned. My details are as follows:

Mandy Hewey
Highly Specialist Cognitive Behavioural Therapist/EMDR Qualified
07951 095647
mhewey@nhs.net
Ealing IAPT
West London NHS Trust

Emergency Contact numbers for your convenience

Single Point of Access: 0800 328 4444
Samaritans: 0330 094 5717
NHS: 111
Sane Line: 07984 967 708

Kind regards Mandy Hewey

Mandy Hewey
Highly Specialist Cognitive Behavioural Therapist/EMDR Qualified
07951 095647
mhewey@nhs.net
Ealing IAPT
West London NHS Trust

Please note: We are not an emergency service and our email address and contact numbers are not to be used in the case of an emergency. If you are worried about immediate risk of harm to self or others, please call the West London NHS Trust support line on 0800 328 4444. This line can also be called if you are not at immediate risk but would like support and advice. Alternatively, you can visit your GP. You can also contact the following services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: NHS Helpline (111) and the Samaritans (116 123)

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