To think this is really unfair (NHS related)

[Worldeatsboy]

I have name changed as this quite outing.

I lived in chester all my life which is on the welsh border, when i got pregnant with DD (now 9 months old) her dad wanted nothing to do with her and was an abusive arsehole so i got no help from him.

I was living with my mum and dad and working full time in an admin role, they said i could stay whilst i got used to mother hood and to help me through pregnancy but it wasnt a long term solution (fair enough)

In the summer when i was looking to move rental prices in chester were extortionate and as i was living with my parents in a 4 bed house the council wouldnt house me as i was adequately housed (again fair enough)

So i ended up moving about 10 miles away to a little village just (literally JUST) over the welsh border as rental prices in wales are much cheaper. I left all my friends and family etc but needs must.

I suffer terrible with anxiety and depression and am currently undergoing counscelling (for past abuse as a child) and im on a waiting list for a high intensity CBT course.

I only.moved the end of august and then started back at work 4 days a week the first week in september, and i know people do it and manage very well but it was a lot for me to take on all by myself. I had never lived alone until now.

As you can imagine ive been busy so only got round to changing my address with my doctors today. I wanted to keep the same GP as they are fantastic, its near where i work so i can get there easily enough and i drive. Also mental health services in the northwest are some of the best in the country and north wales the worst (according to statistics)

So i tell the doctors where i moved to only to be told that because its in Wales they wont keep me as a patient, she even said "you could live in london or newcsstle even and keep us as your GP" but because its wales i have to find a welsh GP

Except that means thry have cancelled the rest of my counscelling, north wales dont even offer the type of CBT i was on a waiting list for and i just feel like i was coming to the end of a very long hard road and now that has all been fucked up by some invisible border!

Do you think im over reacting? I just feel so disheartened bu everything, like there was no point in going to hell and back in the last 12 months trying to get better for my DD because in wales they apparently dont care about mental wellbeing.

[Caulk]

Definitely just access private therapy - a lot of therapists will offer a discounted rate if you ask.

Unless you’re going with “I’m scared of spiders” or something simple you won’t get enough out of the ten weeks or whatever the NHS will offer.

[SummerKelly]

I think the OP understands why the system operates as it does, but wants a bit of empathy that it's a crap situation for her - it must be really frustrating to be caught up in bureaucracy when she desperately needs support. I wonder whether there's a way to get fast-tracked (although I recognise it's not the support you were hoping for) in recognition of the time you have already waited. Hope you get something sorted out soon

[Worldeatsboy]

Thank you summer you summed it up much better than i have managed to

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

Op you really don’t appear to understand devolved parliaments,and nhs England,nhs wales. I’m actually trying to explain it to you.read your own thread other folk are also telling you about nhs funding. You’re also getting some bad advice on here regard false address.if you or your son have a medical emergency and you’ve given a false address you’ll come unstuck. I appreciate you don’t like what I’m saying but that doesn’t render it factually in correct.

[AwkwardPaws27]

she even said "you could live in london or newcsstle even and keep us as your GP" but because its wales i have to find a welsh GP

If it's any consolation, this is highly unlikely - I moved from one London borough to another, a distance of less than a mile, and went from the top of a 10 month waiting list to the bottom of the list in the new borough (and then when I moved back to the original borough 6 months later they lost me off the list completely!).

It sucks, it really does, but it's not the GP's fault.

MIND operate in Wales as well as England - might be worth a call to see if they are running any sessions / can advise what support is available?

[Worldeatsboy]

Tbf lipstick no i dont understand devolved parliment, i wasbt trying to be arsey, but it did come across like that sorry.

[LurkingHusband]

This is really unfair as it's supposed to be a National Health Service.

And Wales isn't a nation ?

[Foodylicious]

Have you actually registered eith a new gp in Wales?
Your other GP remains your gp until you register elsewhere.
Can you what arrangements they are making to transfer your care?
Is the cbt through your gp (primary care) or cmht (secondary care)?

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

Essentially nhs England, Scotland,Wales all purchase their own individual services
And GP also purchases their own services too
So there will be county and country differences.this is the so called post code lottery
As I advised try get reduced fees most counselling practices will offer such a scheme

[GlitterExplosion]

I moved around London rentals and on each occasion was required to switch GP surgery and start on new waiting lists.

[HadronCollider]

Of course you feel disheartened! I really feel for you OP, and on top of it, you have moved away from your support system

Decisions like this are so dangerous for people with MH problems. It is already too difficult to obtain any mental health therapy on the NHS for serious issues like child abuse. Many, many people are failed each year which is partly reflected in the suicide stats. I have issues similar to yours and I remember how off-0putting and anxiety provoking the whole application process was and then the wait, at a time when you can feel that you are hanging on by a mere sliver of a thread!

Coincidentally, I once found a small cyst under my breast and was offered a scan the very next day. Yet when I was barely able to cope and fighting thoughts of suicide, I had to wait 6 weeks for an assessment and months for an appointment. Then the therapy was cut short due to funding issues! Whilst I'm not saying there's a direct equivalence in these scenarios, they can both potentially help people avoid physically harm - in some cases leading to death. But the NHS is being bled dry so it isn't your docs fault but that does nothing for you.

No solution beyond perhaps trying to find the best GP you can in your new area? Just because statistically it is touted as the worst, you may end up getting some good quality provision and at the end of the day, I have found the quality of the therapist, how you interact and engage, and the range of their experience is what makes the difference of how much you get out of any therapy. I really understand your fear and hope things work out for the best

[rightsofwomen]

I think it would have been really good of your England GP or practise to have informed you that you were to be removed from the lists and the reasons why.
But I suspect the NHS don't have the money or resources for that sort of thing.

I can empathise. I fully understand how stretched the NHS are, but that doesn't help me with my MH issues. I don't blame the NHS, but am allowed to be upset.

[Viviennemary]

Well not a nation according to Richard in pointless. OK I suppose it is a nation. Sorry.

[DontCallMeJohnBoy]

I used to work in NHS libraries. The library staff who worked in border hospitals like Shrewsbury were equally thrilled -they could supply articles to NHS staff of the country they were in, to help the care of their patients, but not if the person was employed over the border. Two different copyright licences meant they could only supply printed documents to either NHS Wales or NHS England staff depending which licence they had and they couldn't help the others.

Because the NHS is devolved in Wales there is no way around it as they are two completely different systems, hence why there are different waiting lists etc. even if you're only just over the border.

Sorry OP. I guess it would be the same for education as well - can you send your DC to the school just down the road but in England?

[cricketqueen]

Never tell a Welsh person that Wales isn't a nation.... it would not go down well.
OP it sucks but this is what happens when you move sadly. I would advice that you go talk to a new GP as then you will be able to find out what they can offer etc. Also read up about devolution, if you're address is now in Wales things like healthcare, public services, education etc are different.

[Iprefercoffeetotea]

Your other GP remains your gp until you register elsewhere

Sadly not true (in England). I moved house fairly locally and didn't bother transferring GPs. Anyway the day came when I needed an appointment and I phoned my GP and they told me I wasn't on their list anymore. No reason why.

I assume that because I had taken my son to A&E and given the hospital the new address, that had been fed back to the GP and they'd struck us off their list. Without telling us. It is certainly not the case that you can choose a GP. Even though they hardly ever do home visits these days, if ever, they refuse to take you if you are out of catchment, whether you are in the same county or not, never mind country or not. We moved within the same commissioning group.

I feel for the OP. Is it really the case that if you move house you lose your care plan? I'm sure that wouldn't happen if you were in the middle of treatment for cancer - surely! Yet mental health problems can be life-threatening too. I am sure they have to make proper arrangements to transfer your care. And I am also quite sure that someone living in North Wales would eg be referred to Alder Hey if that was the right place for their specialist treatment so I do think the OP's GP is just glad to find an excuse to bin them from their list.

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

GP can deregister patient when they’re out of area,so no advice on here incorrect

[SummerKelly]

I don't know what would happen with a serious illness but when I moved when pregnant I couldn't get a midwife until I registered with a GP but there were no GPs that would take me so I ended up with a gap in my care whilst that was sorted out. Not life threatening, but also not what you'd expect.

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

GP is just glad to find an excuse to bin them from their list that’s provocative and untrue
Really you’re just making that up.you simply are
All you’ve done us unnecessarily make wild statements and potentially upset op

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

I think it's a bit daft all this devolution. Though on the plus side presumably you get free prescriptions and your child would get free uni?

[artiface]

I know its not a solution, but maybe a help, there are online cbt and these are links from the Royal College of Psychiatrists website www.llttf.com
www.beatingtheblues.co.uk
Eat as well as you can - good gut bacteria help our mental health and they need lots of fresh food, perhaps seek out other mums and cook for each other a couple of times a week, be nice for company for your and your child

[Isadora2007]

I bet you’ve been really engaging in your counselling work and that you could continue this on your own for now while maybe saving to see someone privately once a month? There is a great book called “mind over mood” for less than £20 on amazon and it is basically the book many NHS CBT counsellors use and it’s a DIY version of CBT.
Counselling doesn’t work magically- it is by your engagement in the process and your commitment that things change via your work. You CAN do this alone for now and find some back-up that will help support you albeit on a less often scale. Maybe put aside any money saved when you get a free prescription and put it towards your counselling?
Best of luck to you. Believe in yourself.

[TheFairyCaravan]

I get where you’re coming from and I understand how you feel.

We live in a very rural, tiny county. Wherever I go to the hospital I have to go out of county. I choose to go to a major teaching hospital because there’s an internationally known surgeon there who treats my condition. He referred me to a pain consultant he works alongside. Everything was going smoothly until this year when the pain clinic suffered huge cuts and my postcode doesn’t fit anymore. All of my pain clinic services have been withdrawn. It’s so unfair.

I now have to go to another hospital for pain services, neither doctors have access to my notes from each other and it doesn’t work as well.

[LooksBetterWithAFilter]

The devolved parliament in effect means you have moved to a different country that has its own government and own health service etc. It’s not quite as simple because the Scottish and Welsh parliaments are still ultimately controlled by the UK government but it’s a bit like moving to France without crossing the water different country different rules.
Yes it’s NHS but it’s the Welsh National service you fall under now not England.

You must be feeling so overwhelmed right now at the thought of starting those waiting lists again but I’ll bet you’ll be fine. You said you were seeing light already just keep working on your own for the time being. Speak to your new gp and see if there are any free services you can access in the interim. There may be things that weren’t available to you in England that are available in your area now. It’s not all bleak.

[shhhfastasleep]

Health is a devolved matter. Sorry.