Having emailed and phoned repeatedly today, I have made some progress and (surprise, surprise) things are not as they seemed.
I now have a meeting arranged for next Tuesday. That's assuming my head will allow me to miss the training session I should be going to after school. Heck, I'm going even if he doesn't allow me to.
It looks likely, however, that only one of the three BLPT staff who were going to be there will actually attend. It looks very unlikely that the person I trust most to fight my corner will not be there. However, the alternative is to wait three weeks - and that seems impossible right now.
Apparently this meeting is only to address the "problems" I have encountered with the complaints office. The person who will be at the meeting was not aware of the extent of the problems I have had with the service - despite the emails I have sent her. She has not seen my clinical notes - only my complaint notes and the emails and letter I have sent her. That doesn't fill me with confidence.
Apparently I will be receiving very shortly a response to my original complaint (after I rejected the original complaint - but she did not know who had investigated the complaint or anything about the content of the response.
Apparently she was unaware that she had not met the deadlines she had set herself for responding to me (such as her promise of a meeting in "early October" or her promise to contact me "early" this week.) She did apologise for this.
Apparently she does recognise that "some things have not worked well for you" in contacts with BLPT. When I outlined some of the ways things have not worked there was an admission that things had been "poor".
You'll understand, I'm sure, that I'm not feeling very positive about how helpful this meeting is going to end up being just now. To be honest, it's all feeling like it is going to be another whitewash. I fear similar for the letter. My focus has to be on keeping myself OK through all this. All this feels like more of the same.
People keep telling me it isn't personal. But it sure as heck feels personal. I'm personally involved, after all. I'm the person who has been damaged by all this. Maybe it isn't personal because it happens to everyone? Maybe it isn't personal because, to them, I'm not really a person.
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6 comments:
It sounds so much like a bury head in sand and hope she just goes away, so we'll give her something but can't really address the whole thing for fear we'll have to actually do something proper about it...attitude.
It's not personal because they would/ are possibly/probably doing this to anyone else aswell...
It's still unacceptable, and what you're doing is still the right thing...
It takes a very strong person to do what you are doing. Keep on taking care of yourself while you battle through this
Katie,x
Katie's right, it isn't personal in the sense that the same thing would be happening to anyone else who was being brave enough to pursue a complaint in such difficult circumstances. Of course it feels personal though because you are the person who is being brave.
time to write to our lovely primeminister who appears to ahve promised us 'personal health care'. ho hum.
it is personal - you're doing an amazing job of preventing them from depersonalising you. Hang onto that. This is about how they have treated you. While, almost certainly the same treatment is doled out to others, this is about YOU, promises made to you, duties owed to you, as a person, not as a generality or a statistic. YOU, personally, MATTER. And you are amazing.
Sounds to me this is a meeting to discuss what went wrong woth accessing The System that is the complaints procedure.
They have to hold this meeting in order to stop it happening again to other people.
At least I hope it is- because you can't really have the two meetings together.
You now if I were that organisations manager, I would be very relieved that you were pointing out flaws in the system.
Mystery Service User....the private sector uses Mystery Shoppers to great effect, even pay 'em good money.
Maybe the Mental Health Czar would consider someone setting up such a scheme in the future?
Praying for you as you negotiate your current path....
Everyone else has said beautifully anything I could hope to say, so I'll just send my hugs and support...Though it is hard and painful, taking on a flawed system is a thoroughly brave and selfless thing to do.
Crap response received to day from the crappy complaints service. Am doubting afresh whether the meeting on tuesday is a "good thing" for me, given that the letter I received today has left me in a very fragile state. I feel like I am the crappy one.
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