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Sheffield mental health team

Posted By Mixed up but mindful

"Sheffield mental health team"

About: Community Mental Health Teams Crisis Mental Health / Liaison psychiatry Highly Specialist Services / Specialist psychotherapy services Sheffield City GP HC (Wic)

(as a service user),

At the moment I do therapy at st George's hospital what I have found very helpful. A few days ago I had a bad panic attack over some family issues. I'm usually okay with helping myself by doing my coping strategies to help with stressful situations but sometimes when my coping strategies aren't working because I have hit a really bad dip with my mental health, I know that I will have to phone a help line up for support.

I phoned the mental health duty team up and asked the receptionist if I can speak to a duty worker, the receptionist took my details and said that they couldn't help me because I'm under st George's and I have to get in contact with them because they have their own team for me to talk to, I told the receptionist that st George's don't have a crisis help line because it's a place where you go when you have been referred to do Therapy. I told the receptionist that I have been told that I can phone the duty team up anytime when I'm in a crisis situation. The receptionist at the mental health team still wouldn't help me, when I put the phone down I was in such a dark place because I didn't know who to turn too for support.  

I was told by a friend to go to the walk in centre because they have a mental health nurse who can help me, I phoned the walk in centre and they told me to go down straight away so that's what I did. I told them that I was sorry to bother them and said that the duty team wouldn't help me that's why I've come down to see them. The team at the walk in service was amazing and really helped me, because I was so upset and felt suicide they got me a ambulance to take me to the hospital to see the liaison mental health team.

The liaison team gave me so much help I was able to keep safe. I feel very angry with the mental health duty team because a call back and a chat may have been enough to help me instead I had to go through all that stress with been told I couldn't have any help.

I do want to say a big thank you to the staff at the walk in centre, the paramedics who took me to hospital and the liaison team who helped me. I was told later that evening that I can phone the duty team up anytime and they will get back to me. That's good but the receptionist and team need to know what support they offer people because that day could have ended up in disaster.

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Responses

Response from Paul Nicholson, General Manager, Community Services, SHSC 4 years ago
Paul Nicholson
General Manager, Community Services,
SHSC

Submitted on 13/07/2020 at 12:39
Published on Care Opinion at 13:55

I'm really sorry for the experience you had with the duty team. Although this duty team number is not one where you would be able to access support I would have expected the receptionist to have signposted you to our crisis contact number where you would have received a helpful response.

I'll make sure that the mental health team receptions have the right information in the future.

Once again I apologise on behalf of the Trust and hope it will not prevent you seeking support from us in the future.

kind regards

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Update posted by Mixed up but mindful (a service user)

Thank you for your response to my story. I'm still confused on what you put because I've always been told that I can ring the duty team at anytime if I'm needing support with my mental health.

Later that evening when I ended up in a&e I had a call from the out of hours team saying that I have contacted the duty team earlier and how can they help me, I told them what had gone off and it's too late now to get back to me because I'm in a&e. I mentioned about the receptionist not helping me and the person from the out of hours team told me that I can phone the duty team up anytime - so who do I phone.

The receptionist at the duty team said to me that if that I wasn't under st George's doing therapy they could have referred me but I have to ask for help from them because they have their own team for me to talk too. St George's don't have a crisis help line they are a place where you get referred for therapy. Who do I get in contact with if you say I don't phone the duty team.

Response from Julie Sheldon, Head of Nursing Crisis Network and Adult Community Teams, SHSC 4 years ago
Julie Sheldon
Head of Nursing Crisis Network and Adult Community Teams,
SHSC

Submitted on 22/07/2020 at 09:48
Published on Care Opinion at 11:23

Hello,

I am the clinical lead of the Liaison Psychiatry team and I am sorry to hear that your experience was not universally positive but pleased that your experience of liaison was positive.

I would love to hear more about why liaison was positive or if there was anything we could to do improve?

Kind regards,

Julie Sheldon

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Update posted by Mixed up but mindful (a service user)

Hello Julie.

I found the liaison team helpful because they listened to me and I felt like I was took seriously on what I was telling them. I find it hard to talk about my problems to start with so feeling like they were taking me seriously really helped me,also I didn't have to wait that long to be seen and that helped my anxiety. They also gave me some advice on how to keep safe.

What needs improving is once I went to a&e because I self-harmed and was waiting to see the liaison team. I waited 12 hours to be seen and in that time I had two panic attacks.

The longer I was there the worse I felt. I really wanted to go home because I felt forgotten about but I kept there because I knew I needed help. I would never stay that long again because it made me feel more stressed waiting that long.

It made me self-harm again when I got home because I then started feeling angry towards myself and felt like I was wasting their time.

Response from Julie Sheldon, Head of Nursing Crisis Network and Adult Community Teams, SHSC 4 years ago
Julie Sheldon
Head of Nursing Crisis Network and Adult Community Teams,
SHSC

Submitted on 23/07/2020 at 13:38
Published on Care Opinion at 14:07

Hi there

I am glad your last experience was positive but am sorry to hear about the long wait you have experienced previously. Due to the nature of our work and the way referrals come in to the team it is very possible that we can receive up to 12 referrals from the emergency department (ED) in less than an hour and therefore due to how many staff are on, this will sometimes cause unavoidable delays.

I hope that you don't think that this is about making excuses but sometimes it can be helpful to understand what causes the delay in getting seen. If you think it would be helpful I would be happy to see you to work out a care plan for your attendances at ED so that any distress is minimised and your preferences are known to try and get some consistency to your attendances where possible. This can also be shared with the emergency department as well so that they are aware.

Please let me know if this would be something you would like to take up and if you do wish to do this piece of work you could call me on 01142261696 to arrange this. If I am not in you can leave a message with the admin and I will call you back when I am available.

Best Wishes

Julie

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Update posted by Mixed up but mindful (a service user)

Hi Julie thank you for your response. I totally understand how busy the liaison team can be at times and I never once thought you were making any excuses.

You wanted me to give feedback on all of my experiences with the liaison team so that's what I've done. In reality it would be great if there were more staff on instead of only 2 to cut the waiting time less but as we all know lack of funding has not helped.

Thank you for the offer about the ED but it won't be necessary as I don't like bothering anyone.

Response from Marie Bailey, Service Manager, Liaison Psychiatry, Decisions Unit and Health Based Place of Safety (136 Suite), Sheffield Health and Social Care 4 years ago
Marie Bailey
Service Manager, Liaison Psychiatry, Decisions Unit and Health Based Place of Safety (136 Suite),
Sheffield Health and Social Care

Submitted on 24/07/2020 at 09:08
Published on Care Opinion at 12:58

Dear Mixed up but mindful

I am sorry to hear of your difficult experiences with the duty system. I am keen to hear how we could improve service user experience, if you would like to speak with me or a member of the leadership team ( I am on annual leave from the 24th July until the 10th August 2020), please do not hesitate to contact me on 01142263636.

Kind Regards, Marie Bailey, Senior Operational Manager, Single Point of Access, Out of Hours and Liaison Psychiatry Services.

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Response from Julie Sheldon, Head of Nursing Crisis Network and Adult Community Teams, SHSC 4 years ago
Julie Sheldon
Head of Nursing Crisis Network and Adult Community Teams,
SHSC

Submitted on 24/07/2020 at 15:40
Published on Care Opinion at 16:19

Hi there

Thanks for taking the time to respond again - I am glad you feel that my response was genuine and not excuse making. I also really appreciated you giving more detailed feedback to help us understand what causes problems for individuals who use our service so that if we can resolve them we can try to do so.

I totally understand your perception about taking time up, but I want you to know that it is an open offer and not time limited in case you change your mind. These things are important and personally I would rather us try and get it consistently right for you if we can, in the spirit of that some unhelpful things may be beyond our control. I am sure there are some parts of your experience that we could improve. Anyway I will leave it with you regarding the ED plan but the offer stands unconditionally.

Best Wishes

Julie

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