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.

[Blackteadrinker77]

www.mentalhealthwales.net/

Have you asked your new GP to bump you up the list due to the time you have already waited? It's worth a try.

[JJXM]

This is pretty standard even when moving to a different area. I had wait 2 years for therapy when I got a job 150 miles away - I then had to join the waiting list for that Primary Care Trust (as it was then) and by the time I got to the top of the list my DH had a new job. This happened four times due to moving within England and every time I got to the top of the waiting list we would need to move - I'd get the appointment letter through as one of us got a new job. This would also only be for 10 sessions of CBT or DBT which is not suitable anyway. MH is under-resourced in this country - I have sever MH which stop me working and I'm on lots of medication and I'm not even under a psychiatrist because I'm not considered to be in crisis.

However, Wales has a devolved parliament and so whilst it might seem a kick in the teeth, it has been in place for some time. We've had to reside in a very expensive, urban area to keep our DS in the best special school in the area as if we moved over the county line he would lose his place as the new council would refuse to fund it - this has cost us a 20% premium on the house we bought.

[ObscuredbyFog]

Could you ask your existing counsellor if she could continue the course on a discounted private basis?

[Becca19962014]

I understand it's disappointing, and I've been a victim if this by needing treatment and specialists in England when I'm a Welsh patient, but it's extremely unlikely you would have been allowed to stay registered there if you moved as far as the examples given. There's usually a quite short enforced radius for GP practices.

I live in rural Wales and there's some quite big differences in the NHS in Wales to England to do with funding and services available. You can be sent to different counties around the country both in Wales and England for secondary care and the funding is the same but if you live in Wales and go to England there's a premium added by NHS England for your care and some NHS trusts will give the charges to the patient because you're from out of the country - rare but it happens.

So there is some good news like free prescriptions and if you have a pre pay certificate that you recently purchased you can get that reimbursed. With regard to your mental health, who did you ask about services? There are some quite big differences between what is offered via primary care mental health services (via GP practices) and community mental health teams. Usually you go to primary care first and they assess if they can help, usually this is a form of CBT, they don't tend to offer many other services, there are exceptions to when this cannot be done, for example your needs are more severe and in that case they refer to the community mental health team.

You can be referred across the border along the border (I'm in Wild Wild West Wales where the nearest border is pretty much Ireland!) and there are circumstances where they will do this, so you can discuss this if there is no option in north wales at all (which I doubt).

It's true services tend to be different for different counties, and if seen in a different hospital your local one won't have your notes, but that's why you have a gp who gets a letter when you're seen there are basics for mental health like the primary and secondary mental health teams.

Please seek out and then speak to your GP - it can take time and finding a good one is very much trial and error but it is possible. Using review sites can be problematic, people rarely use them if they're happy they tend to be very much biased. Mine has dreadful reviews but my GP is fantastic.

[Becca19962014]

Apologies I meant to send that as a PM as its so long

[Worldeatsboy]

Thank you to everyone who replied, i will definately ask about being bumped up the list due to time already waited and do some research into my local GP's
Sorry for not replying individually but you have all been very helpful. To everyone who has experienced similar thank you again it is good to know not all is lost and im not the only person to fall into this trap

[kinkajoukid]

I feel for you OP and YANBU. It really sucks that there isn't some kind of protection or provision for you and others with mental health conditions in similar situations. We have been there too and it can be a terrible shock the first time this happens. But, you definitely aren't alone or BU. Do go and see your new GP ASAP and ask how they can help you. If you haven't already, you could try the charities Mind and Rethink to see if they have groups in your area. It might just help to give you some support while you wait for the NHS. Moving is hard in many ways and hope it all starts to sort out soon.

For those you don't know though, it can actually be a exactly the same just moving within England if you have to change NHS Trusts - they can cut you off immediately in your old area and the new trust almost always have some sort of waiting list. It really is quite negligent in many respects, and could have serious consequences for some people.

It is made worse because mental health doesn't have the same choose and book options (ie being able to choose where you want to go for a procedure or when seeing a consultant) that physical health does - you are stuck with having to use the mental health trust where you live. This makes it very difficult to manage a change of address if it also means changing Trusts. Vulnerable people should be 'handed over' to the new area by the previous GP or care team. But not in this world of cutbacks!!

OP, I do hope you can keep your strength up, you've prevailed so far, so gently keep on going!

[missymayhemsmum]

This is really crap, and I'm not sure it's standard. DM just moved to Wales and was able to see her usual consultant in England until she got an appointment with the new one. They surely shouldn't stop an existing course of treatment. Complain, complain, complain. You now have an AM with nothing better to do than sort this out, after all.

[HadronCollider]

JJXM That sounds dire regarding your ability to access therapy.#

Also having to pay a 20% premium on your house in order to access a decent Special school?

[LipstickHandbagCoffee]

Not necessarily wrong I’m afraid. A Consultant could be regionally or nationally funded for referrals. Eg Alder hey is funded to receive patients from North West and Wales and Isle of Man

GP funding is different and op has moved from nhs England to nhs wales. Different funding and nhs wales is devolved

[Goldfishshoals]

When I moved in England just down the road I had to change gps once they noticed the address change was outside their area (which I was very annoyed about as I liked the one I was seeing). This isn't something that only affects people going to Wales.

[ChocolateDinosaur]

GPs have a finite capacity for patients- if they kept all of them no one would ever be able to get an appointment (yes worse than now!) Hence the strictness about boundaries, along with home visit issues.

[OurMiracle1106]

Have you spoken with Work? I had surgery as a result of an abusive relationship and work are paying for my counselling as part of their duty of care to me. It’s comoletelt confidential and managers etc aren’t told whose accessed it. (My manager is aware though as I asked for help and this was provided)

[Skowvegas]

I used to be a counsellor and I can well imagine how hard it is for you to have this rug pulled out from under your feet. It seems so wrong that when you're partway through your treatment it's been removed. Especially something like mental health where your relationship with your counsellor matters, and where you've psyched yourself up for treatment, then worked hard at it.

I would reiterate some suggestions from above - ask your counsellor if you can keep on going till the end of your course at a discounted rate. Look to see if work has any counselling on offer. Call up local charities and organisations that offer counselling and see if they will offer you it at a reduced rate. Counsellors in training have to get a couple of hundred counselling hours logged before they can qualify/start charging, and they tend to offer counselling at charities. And make sure your GP knows your situation.

I'm really sorry this has happened to you. It must be so frustrating.

[He11y]

That does suck big time!

Way I look at it is, finding the £40 a session for a private therapist may mean you can’t give your children as many treats etc but your situation will be affecting them anyway, so a period of ‘hardship’ may well be worth it for the long term gain for you and your children.

Also, with private therapy (I say this as someone who is funding my own therapy and I can’t afford it either), you have more choice and can fit it around you much easier. You choose the best therapist for you and you don’t have someone telling you how many sessions you can have before you are out or a therapist being badgered by their manager to discharge patients who show an improvement as it makes the stats look good. I know this happens as my private therapist also works for the NHS and a good friend is an NHS therapist in a different county from my therapist.

Many will have have so many reduced fee clients too so it’s definitetely worth asking.

If you can’t afford weekly then fortnightly is better than nothing, at least you are getting support and private therapists tend to be more flexible about between session contact too. Every 10 days is another option. You have choices and can probably work something out.

With the NHS you’ll be told what you will do and will need to deal with all the red tape, endless questionnaires etc, but with a private therapist you just get help when you need it.

Just my thoughts but, for us, the sacrifice has been outweighed by the benefits to me and my family (poor mental health never only affects the person with it) many times over.

I wish you well whatever you choose to do

[m0therofdragons]

On the plus side you'll get free prescriptions. I spent £60 on prescriptions last month unexpectedly.

There are ups and downs and trusts vary from county to county let alone country. A woman in Somerset isn't entitled to the same level of breast reconstruction as a woman in Dorset.

[user1468353179]

Not much help to your query, but I live just over the Welsh border too.