Mental Health - Struggling

Nashota

Hello,

I have mixed mental and physical health conditions which are currently being flared up by a PIP review and the medical centre that I'm registered with.

The PIP review is just causing me issues because I'm dreading having to have an assessment as I find it difficult to speak to people, I can panic and disassociate which happened at my last review so it's causing me a lot of anxiety.

On top of this I've been trying to deal with a complaint and medical record concerns with the medical centre that I'm registered with for almost 2 and a half years, they don't listened when you request things, for example yesterday someone called here and asked for me, the thing is there is a note in my records stating that I need a communications partner and that my son is one of the partners, so why keep asking for me, secondly they tried to book me an appointment to attend the medical centre when I'm also down as being housebound, my son totally forgot and had to call them back which in turn caused him anxiety, they then changed it to a telephone appointment. Also yesterday a GP wrote me a supporting letter for something which was very nice of her however, it didn't have what I asked for in it, she seem to totally ignore the fact the letter needed to state certain things, so I then had to email and tell them I don't think I can use the letter.

The medical centre constantly ignores the fact that I struggle to speak on the phone, I feel that because I've not been diagnosed with anything as of yet the relates to those struggles they ignore it.

I also want to request an assessment for a different mental health place because the one I was referred to was awful, can I ask to be referred back to the place that initially assessed me in 2012 and can I ask just to be diagnosed? I've tried various treatments but nothing has helped, I just want to be diagnosed at this point as I think it would make life a tad easier at this crappy medical centre. I can't move to a different place as they are all as bad where I live.

Pardon the rant, this stuff that happened yesterday has caused me to feel quite anxious and unwell today.

Rosie_Scope

Sorry you're not feeling too good today @Nashota, it does sound like a stressful situation to be in. Please rant away as much as you need to, that's what we're here for 😊

It sounds like it's well worth asking to be re-referred to the original place. Perhaps if you're able to write down how you're feeling about the situation and pass that on to your medical centre they might be able to refer you back?

Are you able to email any concerns to them or do they insist on having phone conversations?

Nashota

Hi @Rosie_Scope thanks for responding.

Do you think they'd do that if I asked? I always thought you were stuck to whatever was for your area but the NHS site says you have a legal right to choose.

I could email, but the question is, will it actually get to the GP and will she respond to it. Part of the problem is that they are short staffed.

I do have a phone appointment about my headaches at the end of the month that my son will be doing for me, he has my consent and is down as a communication partner, if I don't get any joy from emailing, do you think the GP would mind if my son asked while he was speaking to her?

I was going to see if it was something my advocate could help me with.

As you can see, I'm a bit here and there and not sure what to do.

Rosie_Scope

That's understandable @Nashota, it's a complicated situation. Hopefully there's a way to get things sorted for you though 😊

It's difficult to say whether they'll manage to pass the email on to the GP, but the worst that could happen would be that they say no. I realise that might be a pretty bad worst case scenario to consider if you're struggling, but it's worth a try if you're feeling up to it.

I once actually sent a letter in the post to my named GP about something I was struggling to discuss in person, and they did respond to that. I can't promise whether that would work for you or not, but that could also be an option to try.

When it comes to the phone appointment, sometimes GPs only want to talk about one symptom at a time, but this varies by each practice. You could ask your son whether he can mention it, and if not, perhaps they could make you a further appointment to discuss what you'd like to happen next.

It does sound like something that you could discuss with your advocate, they're all about trying to make your wishes heard so that's a good place to start 😊

Nashota

The letter is a good idea if the email doesn't work, thank you.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to me as well.

Cantilip

My GP is excellent and I have a complicated autoimmune disease which she knows about but by no means everyone in general practice does. In order to be sure she personally sees what I have to say, I write her letters, real old-fashioned letters you put in envelopes! This actually started during Covid. It works. There's a message form on their Website which is ah, um a less successful means of communication - most recently by the time I've said something three times it sinks in. I have my doubts who deals with these messages, such as locums wet behind the ears.

Nashota

I actually got into a bit of a debate with one of the people responding to an email just for a request for a passphrase/linkage key so I could link the medical centre to my NHS account, I said to them I had linked my mobile to my system account so that a linkage key could be sent as someone told me I could only get it via my mobile and at the end I put "email only due to me having anxiety" the person seemed a bit dense, no offence and even quoted me as saying email only, I started to get really annoyed and anxious and told them that I had literally explained that they could send the key via mobile and then explained that I said email only because I have anxiety and even though I have a note in my records to say I have a communications partner, I've had 2 people call and ask for me and then insist on carrying on talking to me even though I've stated I struggle to use the phone and have communication partners, they then apologised for the confusion.. The practice manager is also useless, she said she'd update me when she got back from leave, she's not contacted me at all. The medical centre isn't fit for purpose at the moment.

I've gotten to a point where I don't trust the staff there at all.

I might just do as you've both suggested and write a letter to the GP if my advocate can't help.