I have belatedly come to the following conclusions:
My previous mental health team were reluctant from the start to offer me treatment of any kind, no matter how many professionals who had met me said I needed it.
This is evidenced by letters urging treatment and by the varying responses / excuses at team meetings about my ineligility for treatment / support.
My complaint then got me the treatment I needed but pissed the team off mightily, particularly its leader.
This is evidenced by MG's persistently antagonistic attitude to me on the phone in those early days, and by her equally antagonistic approach when I requested support.
There was ongoing reluctance to provide me with ongoing support.
This is evidenced by frequent gaps in provision - MM's abandonment of me being the most obvious, particularly given that nothing is recorded in my notes about this. There are numerous letters from my psychologist urging and explaining that I must have support at this time. there were extended delays in providing this support. There was no attempt to provide support during the repeated absences of my supportive CPN, even when I begged for it and explained why and how much I needed it. Contradictory explanations of this failure to provide support have been given at different times.
I was refused access to information which would have backed up my requests for support, such as a copy of my Care Plan. (f it is true, as has sinced been claimed, that my CPN was lying when she said she had my Care Plan ready to bring to me when in fact it had not been written four months after the review meeting, this is a further issue).
When I did receive a copy of my Care Plan, I annotated it and returned it. This was never put into my records. To me, this is evidence of further discrimination - they did not want my dissatisfaction with the way I was treated to be recorded.
I asked to be transferred to another team. My psychologist also made this request on my behalf. Both were refused initially and I was told I would be offered support by MG herself.
When I complained, the complaints policy was not followed. I was discriminated against again, with the appointed Investigating Officer being MG herself (the person against whom I was complaining.) Despite my raising this as a concern and as inappropriate, and despite (apparently) senior management doing the same, the response I received was solely her opinion, with no blanced independent voice being allowed to make judgements.
The result was that I received not one but two vastly damaging letters in response to my complaint, both of which blamed me for everything that had gone wrong and gave no apologies. These letters were both signed off by the same Director at BLPT, who appears not to have read the letters or given any thought to the effect these might have on me.
I requested copies of policies from the PALS officer. The first (CPA policy) was sent without problems, but when I requested a copy of the Complaints policy this was refused as it was for "internal use" only. More evidence of discrimination - I am sure that the "advice" which was sought was sought from the Complaints Manager who had a vested interest in not allowing me to see how far the complaints policy had been ignored in dealing with my complaint.
A complaint resolution meeting was held, which seemed very supportive and very understanding. Promises were made about investigations and responses and apologies. When the written response came most of those promises were not kept.
The person who wrote the response has suddenly left BLPT, Mandy informs me.
I requested again that my questions were answered. A meeting with two strangers was offered, one of the the complaints manager who has been so antagonistic and damaging to me. Various limitations were put on this meeting. I requested a written response instead, addressing the points which the minutes of my previous meeting promised to address.
I received a letter which addressed none of these points and which is the Trust's final response.
My previous mental health team were reluctant from the start to offer me treatment of any kind, no matter how many professionals who had met me said I needed it.
This is evidenced by letters urging treatment and by the varying responses / excuses at team meetings about my ineligility for treatment / support.
My complaint then got me the treatment I needed but pissed the team off mightily, particularly its leader.
This is evidenced by MG's persistently antagonistic attitude to me on the phone in those early days, and by her equally antagonistic approach when I requested support.
There was ongoing reluctance to provide me with ongoing support.
This is evidenced by frequent gaps in provision - MM's abandonment of me being the most obvious, particularly given that nothing is recorded in my notes about this. There are numerous letters from my psychologist urging and explaining that I must have support at this time. there were extended delays in providing this support. There was no attempt to provide support during the repeated absences of my supportive CPN, even when I begged for it and explained why and how much I needed it. Contradictory explanations of this failure to provide support have been given at different times.
I was refused access to information which would have backed up my requests for support, such as a copy of my Care Plan. (f it is true, as has sinced been claimed, that my CPN was lying when she said she had my Care Plan ready to bring to me when in fact it had not been written four months after the review meeting, this is a further issue).
When I did receive a copy of my Care Plan, I annotated it and returned it. This was never put into my records. To me, this is evidence of further discrimination - they did not want my dissatisfaction with the way I was treated to be recorded.
I asked to be transferred to another team. My psychologist also made this request on my behalf. Both were refused initially and I was told I would be offered support by MG herself.
When I complained, the complaints policy was not followed. I was discriminated against again, with the appointed Investigating Officer being MG herself (the person against whom I was complaining.) Despite my raising this as a concern and as inappropriate, and despite (apparently) senior management doing the same, the response I received was solely her opinion, with no blanced independent voice being allowed to make judgements.
The result was that I received not one but two vastly damaging letters in response to my complaint, both of which blamed me for everything that had gone wrong and gave no apologies. These letters were both signed off by the same Director at BLPT, who appears not to have read the letters or given any thought to the effect these might have on me.
I requested copies of policies from the PALS officer. The first (CPA policy) was sent without problems, but when I requested a copy of the Complaints policy this was refused as it was for "internal use" only. More evidence of discrimination - I am sure that the "advice" which was sought was sought from the Complaints Manager who had a vested interest in not allowing me to see how far the complaints policy had been ignored in dealing with my complaint.
A complaint resolution meeting was held, which seemed very supportive and very understanding. Promises were made about investigations and responses and apologies. When the written response came most of those promises were not kept.
The person who wrote the response has suddenly left BLPT, Mandy informs me.
I requested again that my questions were answered. A meeting with two strangers was offered, one of the the complaints manager who has been so antagonistic and damaging to me. Various limitations were put on this meeting. I requested a written response instead, addressing the points which the minutes of my previous meeting promised to address.
I received a letter which addressed none of these points and which is the Trust's final response.
This is a Trust which has something to hide. It is a Trust which ignores its service users. It is a Trust which refuses to answer questions it does not want to answer. It is a Trust which has brought me to the brink of suicide. It is a Trust which states, in its Trust Board Minutes, that it will" “Establish process to check back with people submitting complaints on whether they were satisfied with the response” " The initial deadline for this was November 2006. This was then moved to May 2007. Trust board minutes state that "Process in place, need to review effectiveness by Dec 06." I asked last month whether such surveying had taken place. The answer? No. And yet it has the gall to declare to the Healthcare Commission that "The healthcare organisation has systems in place to ensure that patients, carers and relatives are not discriminated against as a result of having complained."
Its internal complaints system doesn't work. Its own complaints policies are not followed. Its senior staff evade and ignore questions they do not want to answer. It fits well with the recent Healthcare Commission findings on how complaints within the NHS are handled.
Where now? I'll leave you to work that one out. But I am going to stop interacting with BLPT - my efforts to get them to address their failings are clearly futile. I'm going to focus on how I deal with how they have made me feel. I'm going to work on addressing my feelings:
Frustrated
Angry
Scared
Isolated
Guilty
Dissociative
Abandoned
Suicidal
4 comments:
is isolation slightly lessened by sharing this with us? i hope so.......
i am so soory you feel this way now and i continue to pray you will find a way to carve out a safe path amongst the rocky outcrop that surround you.
you don't travel alone
Thanks, MMP
Yes, it helps (some) to write it down.
Working at being safe.
Glad I am not alone.
They haven't heard the last of me....
why am i writing 'soory' on your blog?!
that last summing up could almost go with the papers to the hcc i reckon; neat, consise, to the point.
Thanks, Mmp. Might well do as you suggest, might well. Just need to take stock, regroup, and make sure i include all the relevant information.
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