Share review of Psychiatry-UK

Psychiatry-UK 2024-06-13 Person 1 5 0

The service is extremely disorganised and very poorly managed. Any Commissioner should have a really close look at this provider - they are not fit to be providing a service. 1. They do not honestly tell you approximate wait for the initial appointment. I was told it was 4-6 months, but it turned out to be over 12 months. I wasted a lot of time waiting and my life was affected. 2. They FAIL to tell you at all (!) that AFTER the initial appointment there will be a further wait - they do not have enough prescribers. Medication shortage is not the real reason - I went to a different NHS provider later, and they prescribed and delivered med within a week. They do not make that clear and one thinks: as long as I have my first appointment, I am then on the pathway to treatment - but no. There is further (unknown) wait. They say on the website it is currently 7 months. So I would have to wait for 19-20 months in total to be treated. This is unacceptable. At least they should be transparent and state clearly the estimated wait for BOTH parts. I didn't even realise there would be a second wait. 3. In fairness, my doctor was OK. Asked lots of questions (I assume from a clinical questionnaire) and diagnosis was quick. Having said that, he lacked warmth and compassion and it was all very transactional. Compassion costs nothing. It just requires to have the right staff who are trained. 4. I do not believe Psychiatry-UK should be a NHS provider - they miss lots of processes. It is just a mess. You can't get through to them on the phone for hours. They are extremely slow to respond to portal messages (5 -10 days - really?). If they are understaffed, they should not be providing a service. Or they should hire more trained personnel. 5. After I've sent a message I cannot now wait for another 7 months to be prescribed medication (after the diagnosis was confirmed), nobody even bothered to contact me. They just quietly *cut off* (!!!) my login to the portal. Not a note, not an email, not a discharge letter. Patient care? No, never heard of it. Unbelievable level of carelessness and dismissiveness. This is not clinical care, this is not customer service, this is not patient support. 6. I have tried to send a SARS (my records) request, but the email on the website bounced back. Information Commissioner's Office will be very interested in looking at them. Or they suggest going through some online option, which requires a login - but guess what? They disconnected me from their portal, so it becomes a vicious circle. 7. Same goes for CQC. As a regulator, they must be made aware that this service is below any standards, and I am planning on contacting them. 8. Non-transparent, slow, terrible communication, rude in places, and concealing key information from the patient about the waiting times. I believe they are doing this on purpose to continue receive the referrals but then keep patients hanging and waiting as they cannot fulfil their promises. To say the service is awful would be to say nothing.