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"Therapy halted"

About: Somerset NHS Foundation Trust / Adult community mental health

(as a service user),

I was referred to the Somerset Talking Therapy Service following many years of anxiety and depression issues that I  was finally able to speak about to my GP.  following the referral it took several months for a preliminary assessment to be carried out and then a few more before the therapy began.

In the lead up to the therapy starting it was made clear that I would need to commit to 8 consecutive weeks of therapy. This was not going to be easy as the therapy was being provided at some distance from my home and transport was not straightforward. However, I was determined to overcome issues and made the commitment to attend. Even after just two appointments I was starting to feel the benefits.

On the eve of the third appointment, quite late in the day, I received a call to let me know the appointment had been cancelled as the therapist was unwell. This was fine, these things happen and I expected my next appointment the following week to go ahead as usual. However, this was a few weeks ago and the therapy has not resumed.

I'm not sure where this leaves me,  particularly as the importance of 8 consecutive weeks was stressed. I was informed that if I failed to attend it would be assumed I no longer wanted the therapy and would be discharged but now the tables have been turned I feel completely abandoned.

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Responses

Response from Lucy Nicholls, Inclusion Manager, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust 5 years ago
Lucy Nicholls
Inclusion Manager,
Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

All things around equality, inclusion, diversity and access for patients and staff.

Submitted on 15/08/2018 at 17:02
Published on Care Opinion on 16/08/2018 at 10:43


picture of Lucy Nicholls

Hello -

I'm really sorry that you have not received any follow-up after your appointments were cancelled. I'm not sure what has happened here: whether this is a mistake (which it sounds like) or something more complicated. I'm not aware of any problems that might have caused this, but I'll get in touch with the service manager to find out.

In the mean time, our Patient Advice and Liaison Service could look into this for you, if you felt able to contact them with your details. They would need your name and personal details and could then investigate in detail and find out what has gone wrong. You can email them on pals@sompar.nhs.uk or telephone 01278 432022 if you would like to do this.

I'm very sorry that you have been left in the lurch like this and I'll see what we can do to get to the bottom of this for you.

Kind regards,

LUCY

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