Share review of St Mary's Hospital

St Mary's Hospital 2022-10-18 Person 2 5 0

I feel like they were more interested in diagnosing me and referring me to different teams depending on what label they believed fitted. I was confused as to all the different people involved. They cannot see the whole person if they are being passed around to different people. I appreciate that they want to help people and want to be kind. But I didn’t feel included enough in their decisions and at the time had difficulty understanding anyway, but it would have been a lot easier had they given me open, clear explanations. I did not feel seen or understood as a person- yes I was struggling to communicate, however that was the exact thing I needed help with- I needed self confidence and a sense of control and CMHT made that far worse.

Share all the decisions and data and conversations and reasons for your decisions with your patients directly. At least then I can feel included and understand. Work with the patient as a whole person, not at them as a diagnosis. You don’t need a qualification to help someone. Seriously, the people that helped me most were simply kind and open and ‘unqualified’ in mental health. The ‘lesser qualified’ receive less pay but do more work than the ‘qualified’. This is wrong. It should not be a hierarchy system. The words ‘help’ and ‘support’ do NOT qualify as help and support. Because I needed explanation, not platitudes.