"The staff, on the surface, seemed polite..."

What I liked

The staff, on the surface, seemed polite.

What could be improved

I could have been treated with respect.

Anything else?

On 3 August 2009, I went to A&E after a suicide attempt on 31 July 2009. I was referred to the "crisis" team, as they are commonly known. The crisis team helped me for a few weeks and then told me that they had referred me to further mental health support services.

After waiting several weeks I tried to contact the crisis team by letter to ask about my referral. My letter was unanswered. I then, after waiting for a further few weeks, put my enquiry in the form of a complaint to try and motivate a reply.

The complaint was finally answered by a member of staff, with a claim that I had had an "escorted visit" to Hansons Corner (an adult support facility) with one of the crisis teams support workers. As this "visit" never happened, and as the crisis team were using this as a reason why I had not had a result from their claimed referral, I contacted them immediately, through their Chief Executive, to tell them they were wrong.

Several months of letters then unsued, until finally five months later the crisis team, through thier Chief Executive, finally admitted that the "escorted visit" never happened and the support worker (who said he escorted me) had got the buildings mixed up.

It is now 26 August 2010, 13 months since I tried to kill myself, ended up on A&E and was "helped" by the crisis team. And even though it was shown that the crisis team made a mistake regarding the referral they promised me, and they admitted it, I have still had no mental health support from anybody. I am still alone and contemplating killing myself.

It is stated in the wording of the complaints procedure that making a complaint will never affect your treatment - I feel this is a lie. Since I made the complaint everybody involved with my care, who work for the NHS, has turned their backs on me. I can find no other explanation - unless they want me to be successful in my next suicide attempt. In which case they are doing a good job in pushing me there.