"Botched referral process delaying therapy by at least 6 months"

To whom it may concern,

As a patient under a Consultant based at the Caludan Centre I attend regular appointments to discuss the cocktail of medication that I currently take which includes 200mg of Sertraline, 15mg of Mertazapine and 10mg of Amitriptaline (prescribed by a Neurologist for migraines). My diagnosis is depression with anxiety and I have experienced multiple breakdowns of which the most recent two occurred 2 weeks ago and last November. Whilst I have managed to hold on to employment I am on a sickness support plan and fortunately have an extremely supportive manager. However I know that I am only just holding on and need 1-1 CBT alongside my medication.

My consultant and her staff have been great in providing support and when I have needed an emergency appointment I have been able to access one. I was referred for CBT last October but it was only when my doctor called to chase the status of my referral that we discovered that 'I needed to be reclustered' in order for my referral to be processed, which has now been done - I have been waiting for 6 months only to be told that!

My concerns are

(A) That no one thought to contact either me or my consultant to alert us that there was a problem

(B) There is a waiting list for CBT and I do hope that having waited 6 months already I will be prioritised as urgent. It would not do me any good whatsoever to wait a further 5 months for therapy.

(C) My consultant acknowledges that the most effective form of treatment is medication and CBT. I have had group therapy in the past but this wasn't effective. One to one therapy would be more tailored.

(C) The recurrent episodes of depression are debilitating and excruciating to experience and it feels as though my medication doesn't even touch it when it happens - My consultant reviews my medication regularly and I take my medication at set times everyday without fail

(D) Experiencing those episodes quite literally pushes me over the edge and is something that I want to stop - I don't know how I will cope with more episodes. The most recent one happened yesterday where I needed to sleep all day and all night meaning that I couldn't work/function.

To say that I feel frustrated would be the understatement of the century!

Looking forward to hearing from you,