How bad is this NHS MH performance?

[NHSneglect]

After a triple bereavement in May, my mate goes to the doc with anxiety. She has a history of it and is recorded as ‘vulnerable’. No help provided until
last week.

5 months on, she has lost 3 stone and can’t leave the house - there’s been no meds she can take yet.

This is a sample day of what she’s had to fight:

• video consult was 25 Min late (and short) because consultant (private cos no nhs) hadn’t been told it was online after only 3 calls from patient as reminder.

• Prescribed medications supplied with no dosing list. Instructions on pharmacy packets would have led to an overdose/SSRI syndrome. Patient has not overdosed, thanks to Google, but cannot start urgent meds.

• Other medication late/not suitable as doesn’t work and was not as discussed - she needs the right meds to break starvation cycle.

• Letter to GP that contained dosing list was tracked down by patient in absence of instructions to patient with dosing instructions. Psych had said he’d written to patient but no letter arrived/was on file.
• GP had not received/responded to letter.
• Independent Pharmacist as arranged by patient will help work out what daily meds are to be taken

• Patient has been the only person who is actioning - well, fighting - to sort this out.

• patient has deteriorated and is now only 150 calories a day thanks to these problems. Patient has had to take more Valium than prescribed to be coherent enough to tackle that day’s errors/omissions.

Patient is weakened by flailing to make hours of calls daily - struggling to stay alive against the onslaught of neglect.

The nurse called to see her but didn’t knock and she missed him.

It's you, isn't it. Why not just say?

Patient needs to call 999 if lost three stone and only taking 150 calories a day.

A lot of what you've written doesn't make any sense so it's hard to say.
For example, your title says NHS but you are talking about a private consultant.
This whole sentence doesn't make any sense "Letter to GP that contained dosing list was tracked down by patient in absence of instructions to patient with dosing instructions."
The rest is equally baffling. For example, the patient seems concerned about overdosing on SSRI but not on valium which is far more common.
The nurse who came to the house but didn't knock - how do we know the nurse was there and what did they do when they showed up? Stood silently by the door?

Rude

I'd say it's unacceptable but not unusual.

It worries me. This person clearly is capable of googling and understanding their medication better than a lot of people, and the consequences of wrong meds can be serious. I would say go back to GP, but then so many of them aren't booking appointments/are cancelling them at short notice. Maybe 111?

Your post is not very coherent. Are you on about nhs or private?

Whilst it's a serious medical situation, this is not a 999 emergency.

What calls are they making for hours daily? All the points about not being given a dose are somewhat redundant if they are choosing to ignore the Valium dose anyway, for example.

Sounds like they need to go back into the GP.

Most of these issues seem to be with the private consultant not NHS?

They were late for call
They didn't write to GP or letter was lost
They potentially prescribed meds without clear dosing instructions (assuming not gp because why would you need to see consultant)

I have a friend with clear plans to end it all. I have contact MH with real concerns, knowing she is known to them. They said if I was worried call 999. I said had no idea when she is planning to do it. They shrugged their shoulders effectively. It’s really bad.

You’re right - consultant was private, she was sent by nhs at a cost of over a grand to her because there’s no nhs psychiatry avail in London.

the GP was nhs. Hours of calls to get no contact with either.

Again, this doesn't add up. NHS sometimes uses private consultants but the bill is handled by the NHS from the Trust budget and patient doesn't have to pay anything.
I am not sure you are getting the full story from your "mate".

As it was a private consultation, it’s nothing to do with the NHS.

It's pretty bad, yes. No one should have to fight so hard to get help with mental health. I had a very depressed daughter a few years ago and it was incredibly difficult to get proper help for her. I have my own MH struggles, thankfully my experience with getting help has been positive but too many people are having to fight hard for help, often at a time when they have no fight left in them.

That sounds reasonable for NHS mental health services. Appointment was offered & 25 mins wait is not too bad (my NHS trust lets you rebook rather than wait if the delay is over 1 hour)

Medication has been prescribed - You can query the dose & report an error to the pharmacy. Did this person receive treatment for the overdose and was serotonin syndrome diagnosed & treated in hospital.

There isn't a medication to treat starvation. Do you mean they have a physical illness, an eating disorder like anorexia or reluctant to eat due to depression?

Have they been signposted to online resources & IAPT services for CBT etc ? If not Google will show you what's available

There's no obvious abuse by members of staff or failings. I think it's one of the better stories of NHS care tbh

I think people are completely unaware of how poor mental health services are, people defend our 'NHS heroes' until they hit something like this. Some of it is woeful lack of funding but an awful lot more is just very very poor standards, staff who don't want to do it & did it to get the UK visa & incompetent management & leadership within the NHS trusts.

Most of NHS funded mental health care is delivered by private companies so it can get confusing.

DD had a prescription with dosage missing and the pharmacy wouldn't issue it. She had to go back to the hospital consultant and get a replacement prescription. I don't know where this one was filled but I wouldn't go back there.

I do agree about the low standards - How many innocent people are killed, one wonders.

And how on earth does anyone think it won’t be them next.

It’s always a them problem till it happens to
you.

The lampard enquiry is currently investigating 2,000 deaths between 2000 & 2023 in just 1 county in England (Essex) caused by failings within the trust. The enquiry admits that the numbers are likely to be far higher.

Also look at the enquiries into the nottingham & Southport murders - again full of failings leading to 1 of the worst crimes in recent history.

Delays to appointments, confusion with anti depressant doses and people paying for private treatment don't even count as 'failings' in the scheme of things

700 kills a year? That’s 2 dead bodies a day killed by the NHS in one small area.

Not a 999 call, it’s not a life or death situation but they do require urgent support and input from mental health teams, referring to eating disorders team etc

they do require urgent support and input from mental health teams, referring to eating disorders team etc

😂 done 5 months ago. No action taken by NHS.

This can’t be true. If the NHS needs to use private consultants or services, it does not charge the patient.

I assume the "mate" is actually you OP.

If you have been communicating with your GP and/or private psych in a similar way to how you've posted here, I'm not surprised there have been mix ups/misunderstandings.