Not sure if I have a reason to make a formal complaint

[startingagain]

I've been having therapy for a few years. Then I was put on an unplanned break of a couple of months. When I came back I was given a list of all the things that were wrong with me that meant I wasn't able to access therapy. I was given another 3 week break followed by 3 sessions and discharged against the request of my GP. The discharge letter gave me a list of things to do to help me care for myself (and if I could do them I wouldn't need therapy) but no plan of how to access support if needed. I've been told I can't access services for at least 6 months to preferably a year.

I don't see how I can go from weekly support to nothing. The way I've been discharged has caused me a lot of distress as I was told it would be done gradually. Instead it was done quickly and has just reinforced lots of negative feelings about myself and so I feel even worse.

Complaining isn't going to make any difference to me getting support, but I just don't think that it has been done in a supportive way. Is this the usual way to be treated on discharge?

[Snow White.]

This does sound very unsupportive. You say it was against your GPs advice do they know all these details? And if so what have they said?

Why can't you access services for 6 months?

[startingagain]

Thanks. I haven't told my GP about the complete discharge as they ignored his letter asking them to continue, so it doesn't matter what he thinks. I'm not to access services as I have to find someone other than services to offload to when I'm having problems and learn to take care of myself.

[Becca]

Speak to your GP, they need to know. Ask them to get more details from the people who discharged you; then think about complaining.

My personal experience is that complaining can lead to you being labelled as a 'difficult patient' and cause further problems, which is why I have said speak to your gp.

[talaiporia]

I thought I'd replied to this but it seems like my phone ate the reply (sorry!) :p

I think it's important to be aware this complaint will not change the outcome, and that it might even jeopardise further care. It is important to look at your motives for making the complaint, and see what you would like to happen, and also get other people's perspective on it.

You've mentioned breifly the reasons behind the discharged being to do with not recovery (I think you said he said it was your fault, or something like that?) and it's possible that he was concerned therapy was making you worse, as it's known that this can be the case, or that people may not be ready for therapy. You also mentioned your GP, so I think it's important to discuss this with him, as he seemed quite against you being discharged.

[startingagain]

Thanks. The reason for complaining would be because I think they need to look at how they discharge people. I'm not happy that after seeing him for so many years that he now decides I'm not ready for therapy. To be presented with a list of all the reasons why I've failed and why I'm still not ok has caused me a lot of distress. He could have done it in a positive way. If they aren't considering me for a year I'll be on a waiting list for another year (that's how long I originally waited) and so if I'm not going to get support for possibly 2 years I'm not sure it matters what they think of me. I also don't think I want to go through it again as this has damaged my trust in services. I'll speak to my GP first, but I don't think it will change anything.

[talaiporia]

Would you like to talk about the discharge process ie. when you were first aware of it being on the cards with us? (I know you've mentioned it in another thread, but I'm forgetful). You mention they presented you with a list of reasons why you've failed - is this what they said, or was it a list of reasons why therapy would be unhelpful at this stage? What were some of the reasons?

You sound quite angry at the moment, and I do understand that, but it's important not to do this out of anger, but because you genuinely feel they make a serious mistake.

[startingagain]

Thanks. I was given a 2 month break. When I came back I was given a list of all the reasons why therapy wasn't working and so I see it as being about me failing. Rather than help me work through them I was given another 3 weeks off and then 3 sessions to put together a plan of how I could care for myself. This includes several things that if I could do I woudn't need therapy in the first place. It also went over again that due to how I was treated in the past has meant that's why I can't access it now. There was nothing on how to manage if things got bad and it all has just left me feeling as if I'm not good enough to receive support even though everything he wrote makes it clear that I'm not ok.

[Copernicus]

From what I remember of your other thread your discharge was badly handled - mainly because it was too sudden when you'd been promised plenty of warning.

I think you need to be a bit careful ... making a complaint shouldn't affect future treatment in theory, but personally I wouldn't take the risk of having it in my notes.

It also depends what you want. I think you're very unlikely to get an apology or proper explanation.

If you feel it will help you just to take some action then it's probably best to keep the letter unemotional. You could say briefly that you were unhappy with the way your discharge was handled, and then give constructive ideas about how the process could be made to work better for other people using the service.

[Becca]

Just to be clear complaints should never be kept in a patients notes because they can effect futher care.

I would definitely speak to your gp about it and ask them to find out why it happened the way it did. Your gp sounds concerned about what they did and that is a far better way of them looking into it as shows your gp has concerns about your care, which would be taken more seriously (I don't agree it should be that way but it is), and also her concerns would be formally looked into and responded to - probably you would get something about 'communication issues' and not really any answers at all whereas your gp would. This isn't how people should complain but as you mentioned your gps concern I would recommend this route.