"I have now been without a safe crisis plan for 26 months"

26 months ago I asked for a new crisis plan after an unhelpful experience with a local crisis team. 10 months ago I thought the crisis plan had been done but, despite numerous requests, nobody would give me a copy. 4 months ago I met with a social worker who told me there was no copy of the updated crisis plan on the system.

Subsequently, the staff member who I thought had done the crisis plan informed the patient experience officer that the crisis plan had not been updated. Apparently this was because I did not attend an appointment that they had not given me adequate notice of by email although I have repeatedly raised the issue of communication around appointments with TEWV. Furthermore this would not prevent patient safety information known to the Trust from being recorded.

I am not sure why over seven months during which management, PALS and frontline staff were aware I was repeatedly requesting the crisis plan none of them identified the problem and ensured the relevant information was on the system and easily accessible to the crisis team in the event of a crisis. I contacted senior staff and was informed they think that the problems with the crisis plan are a clinical issue. My view is that there is a system problem if patient safety information is not being identified and appropriately recorded leaving patients with inadequate crisis plans.

The patient experience officer arranged for me to be sent a new, updated crisis plan. There was nothing on the new plan that suggested staff were aware of the information I had provided to the previous staff member who I had believed was updating my crisis plan. This was information I had given the previous staff member to keep me safe in a crisis.

I contacted senior staff again who agreed that a social worker should meet with me to ensure I had a thorough and safe crisis plan. I also understood the new, unsafe crisis plan I'd just received would be replaced with the information for my crisis plan that I'd given the Trust 10 months ago. Local staff were asked to organise this meeting but for reasons still not explained to me they organised a completely different meeting with senior staff/management. I understood I would have the meeting about my crisis plan very shortly after eg a week or two.

3 months later

I have not had the meeting. I wrote back to senior staff asking about this saying it had been my understanding I would have a meeting with a social worker to do my crisis plan. They said that was their understanding too.

I have now been without a safe crisis plan for 26 months. I have no idea whether the unsafe crisis plan has been removed from the system. I have no idea if, since I spoke to senior staff, the information I provided has yet been put into a crisis plan and on the system. I've contacted staff to ask but not been given any answer.

I have said safeguarding needs to be involved. I also believe there needs to be an independent investigation into my care. I think it is much better to have an independent investigation while a patient is alive than a coroner's inquiry after death at a coroners inquiry, if the Trust comes out with lame excuses, the patient's voice goes unheard and cannot challenge them. If the Trust actually concedes that there should be 'lessons learned' it's not too late at an inquiry before a patient death for the patient to benefit from those lessons genuinely being learned. 

I do not know what is going on with TEWV behind closed management doors but in my opinion they have not demonstrated ability to deal with this themselves.