Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

Feedback

• Not good enough

  2

  Submitted by Anonymous 20th July 2018

  My daughter has schizophrenia and bipolar. She gets what she needs but we have to fight for it. When she gets help, the people are great. There isn't enough people available. I worry for people who don't have someone fighting for them. Our daughter is often placed in beds out of county. This isn't good enough.

• Reply from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

  We appreciate you comments regarding your daughter and the difficulties in accessing effective support. We acknowledge that staffing within this Trust is a problem and the access to beds in Norfolk and Suffolk are difficult to the demands on mental health services. We would encourage anyone to make contact with our Patient Advice & Liaison Service to raise concerns about the care they receive as staff within the team can provide support in trying to resolve problems that may arise. They can be contacted on the following. Tel: 0800 279 7257 (free phone), Email: pals@nsft.nhs.uk. Messages can be left, and we would attempt to respond to you as soon as possible.

• No surprise that they're on special measures

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 16th July 2018

  No surprise they're on special measures. Misdiagnosed for 15 years. Told us she should be outside and she'll be a useful member of society. I had to threaten a practitioner with legal action to get someone to come out. Our area constantly changed between King's Lynn and Norwich. A numbers game. 18 months waiting after area change.

  
  
  Leave a provider response

• Poor mental health treatment

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 16th July 2018

  My child suffers with their mental health as do I. Wellbeing do come out for me. But my child has schizophrenia and gets no help locally. They needed a medical check when their medication was changing. Wellbeing wouldn't come out and just tried to send them to the practice but they won't take them and they have to go to Hellesdon, but we can't get there. My child is on dangerous anti-psychotics.

• Reply from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

  We are sorry for the delay in responding to your feedback. Thank you for sharing your concerns with us. If you would like some assistance in trying to get your child's medication reviewed, I would recommend getting their GP to make referral to this Trust for a medication review or the GP can call our Access & Assessment team for medication advice. You have explained that getting to the appointment is difficult also. There might be local organisations that can help with this. If you would like to discuss this further, you can make contact with our Patient Advice & Liaison Service, who can provide you with further information. You can contact PALS via Tel: 0800 279 7257 (free phone), Email: pals@nsft.nhs.uk. Messages can be left, and we would attempt to respond to you as soon as possible.

• Didn't want to know

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 11th July 2018

  My brother had drug and alcohol issues and was suicidal and they're attitude was 'If you're going to kill yourself, do it properly'. They don't have time for you. [Norfolk Show, June]

• Reply from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

  Thank you for your feedback. Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to you. It is a concern that staff advised your brother in this way. If you would like to discuss this further you can make contact with our Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS). PALS provide help when you need information or advice about mental health, have concerns or are not sure who to turn to for help. You can contact PALS via Tel: 0800 279 7257 (free phone), Email: pals@nsft.nhs.uk. Messages can be left, and we would attempt to respond to you as soon as possible.

• Lack of funding hurting the service

  4

  Submitted by Anonymous 29th June 2018

  They are really helpful and they will call patients and help them. I work in social care and deal with them a lot. They are very good. The lack of funding is really hurting the service.

• Reply from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

  Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us and we apologies for the delay in responding to this. We value your feedback.

• Understaffed - Huge waiting lists

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 29th June 2018

  They are understaffed and have ridiculous waiting lists. There's a 9 month waiting list for one to one support. I was told it would be eight weeks for a carers assessment and it ended up being two years. We used to see a community nurse weekly and it's now three weekly, their case load is way too big.

• Reply from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

  We appreciate your feedback. Nursing staff recruitment is a problem nationally, which has also affected this Trust. Steps have been taken to improve this, and you can keep up to date with our progress by checking the Board of Directors Public Meetings which are held across Norfolk & Suffolk. Previous meeting minutes can be found here: http://nsft.nhs.uk/About-us/Pages/BOD-public-meetings.aspx . Also, If you like more information about our Trust strategies, they can be found here: http://nsft.nhs.uk/About-us/Pages/What-are-our-priorities-and-how-are-we-doing.aspx

• My husband has had PTSD since 1995

  3

  Submitted by Anonymous 29th June 2018

  Initially the treatment was good, and he saw a psychiatrist at Kelling. They then changed the service so he had to travel in to Hellesdon and he could no longer see a psychiatrist. Instead the GP would just prescribe medication. As he was no longer seeing a psychiatrist, the crisis team wouldn't come out when we had crisis situations, this was awful, and I was left to deal with it myself. In the last three years, he has been assigned a mental health nurse, who comes to see him regularly. She is very proactive and it's much smoother, and overall it's much better.

• Reply from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

  Thank you for taking time to share your experience about your husband accessing support from our services. We are glad to hear that support provided has improved. However, if there are any further problems in the future, you can make contact with our Patients Advice & Liaison Service (PALS), to talk things through. PALS provide help when you need information or advice about mental health, have concerns or are not sure who to turn to for help. You can contact PALS via Tel: 0800 279 7257 (free phone), Email: pals@nsft.nhs.uk. We will attempt to respond to you as soon as possible.

• Eventually good

  4

  Submitted by Anonymous 28th June 2018

  My daughter has OCD and had a year of assessment. She was passed around and eventually got in to receive some treatment. It was hard to initially get there but it was eventually good.

• Reply from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

  It is good to hear that your daughter received good support despite the delay in accessing it. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

• Very slow

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 22nd June 2018

  After I was referred into the service, it was more than 6 months on a waiting list. After the 6 months I was offered some counselling, I had six sessions and didn't feel like it was enough.

• Reply from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

  We are sorry to read that you were on the waiting list for a long time and the counselling you received was not enough.You can get your GP to refer you back to our Trust if you feel you are in need of further support. Or, if you were seen by the Wellbeing Service, you can self refer online: https://www.wellbeingnands.co.uk/get-support/self-referral/ or calling them directly on: 0300 1231 503 Also, if you would like any information on what other support might be available in the community, you can contact the Patients Advice & Liaison Service (PALS). You can contact PALS via Tel: 0800 279 7257 (free phone), Email: pals@nsft.nhs.uk. We would attempt to respond to you as soon as possible.

• Been waiting a year so far

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 22nd June 2018

  I have borderline personality disorder and have been waiting a year for a review or support. I was told it would be three months and as yet, I've heard nothing.

• Reply from Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT)

  We would firstly like to apologies for the delay in responding to your feedback. If you need any support in raising this with the team, you can contact us in the Patients Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) who can try to help you get this resolved sooner. PALS provide help when you need information or advice about mental health, have concerns or are not sure who to turn to for help. You can contact PALS via Tel: 0800 279 7257 (free phone), Email: pals@nsft.nhs.uk. Messages can be left, and we would attempt to respond to you as soon as possible.