"Serious lack of care from GMHT"

My husband has been under the care of the Gedling Local Mental Health Team for 5 months now after being transferred from the crisis team. During that time, he has only got worse, not better. Despite being estimated a 5-week wait for a psychiatric review, we had to wait 5 months in reality. During this time he just worsened, and the only advice ever given was to -try to distract yourself-, I as his carer have requested medication reviews countless times, specifically the introduction of antipsychotics to help calm his hostilities to towards his me during his worst episodes and also because he does get visual hallucinations and hears bangs, growling and on occasion a woman’s voice. Every single time I have tried to request help with the meds, I have been either fobbed off or blatantly ignored by the team. I wasn't allowed to see the psychiatrist at his latest assessment despite it being a 90-minute appointment, and despite sending in a large symptom diary, the psychiatrist doesn't seem to have caught onto the fact that he is showing signs of extreme hostility and what I believe is psychosis.

The CPN has on multiple occasions promised to ask the psychiatrist for his input and a possible med change, but in reality has never actually followed through with this promise. I have tried to email the psychiatrist directly/via his secretary to ask why antipsychotics have not been considered or the question even acknowledged, and all my emails and phone calls have been completely ignored by the team.

On speaking to an independent advice organisation about the situation they have advised that Gedling MHT is completely ignoring the ‘triangle of care’ standards and not involving or recognising me in any of the treatment processes at all, far from it, they are ignoring everything I try to ask. This even led to my husband having such a bad episode last week that he removed my consent to be considered as his carer. He has since emailed GMHT asking me to be reinstated but this has also been ignored so far. I think this seems to suit the team as they don't like to be questioned about their professionalism or lack of care. In effect, not having me fighting my husband's corner makes life easier for them.

Multiple times over the past 5 months I have requested a copy of my husbands care plan and also the psychiatric report from the time he was with the crisis team 6 months ago. The CPN has again promised to chase this up, but never once delivered. Even when contacting Duncan McMillian house directly around a month ago, I have been ignored. The team as a whole seems to be withholding information my husband has a right to obtain and using excuses such as covid delays 5 months down the line to not release this to us.

I honestly believe that if somebody had listened to me for the past 6 months about my husbands extreme, aggressive mood swings, suicide attempts and paranoia, and therefore prescribed something to help him with this, he wouldn’t have last week started applying for houses and trying once again to run away from home/his family and support network who by his own admission are his only real protection against committing suicide.

His PCN has now gone on holiday and left him believing him to be in this state of mind, whereas thankfully I have managed to talk him down from this in the PCN's absence. He has not arranged for anyone to perform extra checks on him this week other than a woman who is supposed to be letting him know when she is coming at some point this week (hasn't done as of yet). For all the PCN knows, he could have left and committed suicide by now as when he last saw him he was psychotic to the point he was removing me from his care records! I feel my husband and been completely let down by the team.

We are now being forced to look into the possibility of trying to pay for private DBT for his BPD, which will put us into debt, as myself and my mother in law have completely lost all faith in the team to take care my my husbands best interests or to get him therapy within a reasonable time frame. Even if they told me the therapy would start in 2 weeks, at this point I wouldn't believe a word they said and would be fully expecting in reality we would be waiting months.

As a carer, I have been offered zero support with the difficulties of handling this traumatic situation as a family. It is only through the help of a very kind lady at the independent advice organisation that I am now finally beginning to realise that such help exists!

The whole experience with Gedling Local Mental Health Team has been beyond shocking! My view is that my husband has been treated as another number and not a vulnerable patient or even a human being. The service is dangerous in my opinion.