Norfolk Community Health And Care NHS Trust

I self-referred in October 2024 after exhausting every other option. I have suffered from fibromyalgia for almost 30 years and the pain had become unbearable. I was unable to get help from the useless NNUH pain clinic and had tried private physios but they became expensive and there was no improvement. My GP practice has been less than supportive, automatically attributing every problem I had to fibromyalgia, even though I knew differently. Shortly after referring myself I was asked how much pai ... n I was in and I was informed the wait would be weeks. One year on, I still haven't heard from them. As a result I am in constant agony, unable to sleep due to excessive pain. I have lost my mobility and have become housebound. Frankly, I have lost the will to go on. Do these people not understand how being treated this way can affect a patient's mental health? No problem, if your GP refers you for mental health support or if you self-refer, you won't get help there anyway; they don't deal with patients suffering from chronic pain or having suffered abuse. I am moving out of this county while I still can. The whole "support" system here has ruined my life.

It has been brilliant, absolutely amazing. I can't fault it. All the professionals here have been really good. It has all been very helpful. Perfect.

I had a referral from my doctor at the end of June, so it's not been a long wait. Everyone has been very nice. It could of done with some more signage, both at the gate and the building.

The signage wasn't that good, so I was not confident I was going the right way but I knew i had to arrive at a time and it made me feel anxious. There were no arrows and some signs were hidden. When I arrived I was shocked because it reminded me of a COVD jab experience. You queued up and were dealt with. It was a long wait, one hour and I was not expecting this.
The individual members of staff were marvellous, they were very attentive which I think is important. They were very polite when they ... booked me in and all the staff were good.
The importance of exercise has been stressed but the classes I was referred to are not easy for me to get to so I won't go. I have been given exercise instructions instead. A class with other people, closer to me would be better as I think the social aspect would be good.
The anxiety I felt at the beginning made the whole experience more difficult for me, but once I spoke to some of the staff it felt better.

I was extremely sceptical after all the emails and texts I got about today. However, apart form the waiting around it was fairly good and I am pretty pleased with the result. My appointment time was between 11.30 and 12.30 and I arrived at 11.20 and I'm only now on my way out and it's 1.20pm so it has all taken much longer than I expected. It has all been quite good though. It was difficult to hear the numbers being called and the chairs could have been more comfortable but overall it's been qui ... te good.

I think it's been brilliant. I like that you can come here, it's been relaxing and very helpful. The people I've seen have been very helpful. The physio achieved more here than what I have had before, it's been more specialised.

Today was better than I thought it would be. I didn't really want to come but thought I would in case I missed getting to the next level. I was expecting a group session so I found it very personal, but it's not that private. They are listening to your outcome goals and are helping me to achieve them.

I have previously self referred on their platform and was only given some generic exercises and I was not convinced. Today is the first time I have seen someone in person and it's been very helpful. I have been given some good information and some exercises which are more bespoke.

It seems a bit mad but it has worked for me. I have been referred to an exercise class for 12 sessions and I have also been reassured. The information was good. People should be told though not to come too early as there was a big queue. Other than that it has gone quite well. I think it's a good idea.

The people here have been brilliant but the signage to get here was awful. It was confusing as we entered the showground site and when we had parked it was not clear where the entrance was. You had to get very close before you could see any signage to the entrance.
The room was very echoey and it was difficult to hear the numbers called. I think for people who have hearing difficulties it is not an easy environment. The text invite we got did not have enough information and the map we were sent ... was very small.
I feel I have got what I wanted and I am delighted with the help from the physio. I have also found the stands very helpful, there is lots of information and I have collected things for myself and other people too.