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"If we can't trust the service to answer the phone, we're unlikely to trust them with our health."

About: Community mental health services / Sutton Uplift

(as a service user),

Referred online after seeing my GP. After filling out the self-referral form I waited a few days and then called to check it had been received. I called several times over the course of a week and left a message each time. I then received the patient questionnaire so knew I was on their radar. I filled out the form which said if the service didn't hear from me within 7 days they would send me back to the GP. So I called again, and again two days later, and again left 2 messages. A few days later I received a letter to say they had not heard from me within the timeframe and have closed my file.


We are now having to finance ourselves to seek help privately as no attempts were made to contact us in this time and if we can't trust the service to answer the phone, we're unlikely to trust them with our health.  

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Responses

Response from Helen McVeigh, Service Manager, South West London & St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust 5 years ago
Helen McVeigh
Service Manager,
South West London & St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust
Submitted on 14/06/2019 at 19:49
Published on Care Opinion on 17/06/2019 at 11:28



Dear Done

My name is Helen McVeigh and I am the Service Manager for Sutton Uplift. Thank you for your time in writing this feedback. I would like to apologise on behalf of the service about the experience that you have had. First contacts with the service are very important to us and we hope to give a better impression than we have done in your case.

I would be very happy to reflect on your personal experience and ensure that any lessons learned are demonstrated with a service development. Very recently the telephone system has been reviewed and changes made to how calls are handled within the service. As is practice now feedback of this kind will be brought into individual team meetings. Looking at your personal experience will be very helpful for us to further improve this vital function.

It seems that you did not make it as far as an assessment with our team. I am happy to re-look at this if you think it would be useful to you to do so.
If you would like to contact me personally I can be contacted on ssg-tr.suttonuplift@nhs.net

With Regards

Helen

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