Psychiatry-UK

Written by a NHS patient

The waiting list is a bummer, but it is what it is. (And isn't the fault of Psychiatry-UK, and will likely be in a similar state no matter the service you choose) Being seen via video made things a lot easier than if I had had to attend anything in person, I felt really at ease with Dr. Igboekwu, who conducted my video assessment for ADHD, in fact I'm currently waiting to be assessed for ASD through Psychiatry-UK as well, and if at all possible I'd like to see him again for that. :) The main form of communication being typing back and forth through messages via the official website, was also extremely accommodating for me, as I suffer with social anxiety when it comes to making phone calls. Sarah Purchase who was responsible for my titration period, which, for me was over the course of a year was ABSOLUTELY awesome, so awesome in fact, that I wanted to mention her by name <3 she read many an anxiety produced note and always got back to me professionally and promptly. The only reason I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5 for some aspects, is that, shortly after my video exit interview - the way I would need to request my medication was in the process of being transferred over from the care of P-UK to my GP. It was around this time that my phone broke and I lost sim card and therefor my number - my number, is required to login to the patient portal and have any contact with my psychiatrist, prescriber or any of the customer service team. I was essentially locked out. (Again, this in itself, of course, isn't Psychiatry UK's fault. Every 2FA I had setup was connected to that number, a number I'd purposefully kept since a teenager as I suffer from working memory issues and it just made things easier that way, well, for a while) This seems... flawed? Like, surely there could be some security questions? Or perhaps an option to link a backup email and or phone number of a partner or similar, in case of something like this happens? I understand that there are data protection laws to navigate but, I got my partner to provide feedback with regards to my ADHD a few times and so, there's wiggle room for something, potentially? I emailed the support address multiple times, spoke with multiple people, so - someone would take over, or see an email from me first - and ask me the same things... all for security reasons, which is fine and dandy but... it took nearly a MONTH in total for them to okay my new number and then for me to able to access the service again! (In that month MY WHOLE LIFE got worse, honestly... it was devastating for me. It made me realise, even more, how important getting on the right medication has been for me.) Unfortunately, in that time - I had gotten confused (easily done at the best of times, let alone when I'm unmedicated) with regards to when and how I'd now need to go about requesting and receiving my medication. I tried ordering it from my GP as I thought that that would now be the correct way to proceed... It took them 5 days to notify me that the service had not yet officially been moved over, and that this was in fact, not the way to proceed... After that - my phone broke and I lost my sim... (That, of course isn't PUK or my GPs fault - it's just, the catalyst that brought about my seeing the cracks in the system...) For a neurodivergent person, especially one that is now not medicated, and came off of their medication abruptly, due to a multitude of unforeseen circumstances, everything got worse, so so so much worse - I wont go into details here but, it's such a shame also because my entire experience with P-UK up until this incident was nothing short of fantastic. What I want to bring up is -the fact that I was reaching out for help, again and again and again and it felt like a betrayal? Because these people know how badly I struggled / struggle and that I deal with executive dysfunction, object permeance, working memory issues and more. So having something like this happen, for someone who's neurotypical, maybe it wouldn't have been a big deal or taken as long to deal with, but I did my best and - obviously, my best isn't good enough due to literal neurochemical imbalances so. Yeah, this part sucked. Being diagnosed and finding the right medication for me through this service had genuinely been LIFE CHANGING though, so - I think that's the main takeaway. They could just improve this particular area and I'd be shouting from the rooftops. x Overall, I thoroughly recommend Psychiatry-UK - everyone I've had contact with has been really helpful and lovely - obviously, I was frustrated with the email back and forth because it seemed wholly unnecessary and it could have potentially put me in danger had I stopped taking my medication (which I did, as I ran out) and something bad had happened (fortunately, it didn't) If it had, I wouldn't have been able to get in contact though... as things stand right now. Sorry for the mini essay... I'm always like this, haha - poor Sarah, can you imagine?! Bless her.

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Written by a NHS patient

I was referred to Psychiatry UK via the NHS Right to Choose Scheme. I waited about 12 weeks for my ASD Assessment and 6 months for my ADHD Assessment. I saw Khalid Saleem for my ADHD Assessment and Kouser Jan Shaik for my ASD referral. Both were amazing. Very warm and kind, put me completely at ease. I would definitely recommend Psychiatry UK.

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Written by a NHS patient

From referral to the end of titration appointment, Psychiatry UK have delivered outstanding care, kindness, professionalism. My psychiatrist, titration specialist and the wider team have demonstrated that they are well run and well led. I've also been able to discuss how my ADHD is affected by hormones, my menstrual cycle and menopause, really helping me to better manege my life. Thank you!

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Written by a NHS patient

I have received excellent service with Psychiatry UK. They are incredibly fast and efficient, as well as very supportive and caring. I am very grateful to my nurse for all her help with finding the find medication for me. I would highly recommend this service.

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Written by a private patient

Have used PUK three times now for various members of my family and found them to be fast, professional, and human which is no mean feat given the caseload of neurodiversity diagnoses they are handling.

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Written by a NHS patient

I was lucky to receive treatment pretty quickly and I am very grateful for the support and help I have received. Now to learn how to live as the new me

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Written by a NHS patient

I was referred by health in mind, and took 6 months to get a diagnosis and to get my treatment started. The team are great and easy to talk to and it was done from the comfort of my home via video call . When I had any questions I would go onto my portal and talk to my physicist and would reply within minutes to all my questions, which would put my mind at ease. This was a very pleasant experience and would definitely recommend this service.

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Written by a NHS patient

Amazing care received from Psychiatry UK over the last 3 years. Because they're so good the wait times have gone up (nothing like for NHS though!) Bit every part of the process has been very straightforward. I have just completed titration for medication amd found the whole process very helpful.

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Written by a NHS patient

I was referred by my doctor and the process was very easy and straightforward. I received an appointment fairly quickly with a psychiatrist. There were a couple of blips with the booking of the appointment and technical issues which meant the appointment had to be rescheduled a couple of times however I can't fault the service in any way.

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Written by a NHS patient

My experience of my assesors: My psychiatrist seemed really kind and i felt safe with him. My nurse seemed ok but i did not feel safe with her. I'm not sure why. My experience of my assessment: I would like to have understood how the assessment worked. After the assessment i felt that they had been asking me questions about other mental health conditions and that because maybe they felt that i had other mental health conditions, they didn't need to give me an autism diagnosis. It felt to me like they were trying to find ways that i was not autistic rather than how i feel i am autistic. I felt really upset after the assessment as i did not understand how they could base that i am not autistic on three main things: that i was able to communicate on a one to one online, that i could express how i feel and that i did not look autistic. Some main issues that i have is dissociating and masking and this was in my written assessment but i cant remember them asking me about this in this face to face assessment. I find it weird that masking and dissociating was not taken into account in my answers and how i presented, or at least this is how it seemed to me. I have issues with trust and not feeling safe and not understanding why fully has made me feel less trusting and more unsafe.

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