Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney (IAPT)

Feedback

• Highly informative and helpful during stressful times.

  5

  Submitted by Anonymous 4th October 2024

  Lynsay gave me much needed help and support during the period, alternative methods to everyday life, gave lots of written information and numbers for the future if needed. She was a friendly face and showed empathy in my situation.

  
  
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• Never to their requirements

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 26th March 2024

  3rd time being discharged because I don't reach their requirements. Even being discharged from hospital after an overdose I didn't fit their requirements. Would love to know how to actually recieve any help!!!

• Reply from Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney (IAPT)

  I am sorry that you did not have a positive experience with Wellbeing. We provide brief psychological interventions which are not suitable for everyone. We are not a crisis service, and sometimes a person's next steps are best met elsewhere. However, our staff should be discussing your next steps with you and explaining our reasons for not offering treatment within the service, along with providing you with advice, so I am sorry that you have left feeling so dissatisfied with your experience. If you would like us to look into this please do contact us on 0300 123 1503, or by emailing admin@wellbeingnandw.co.uk.

• I need help, real help.

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 20th May 2023

  Advised to self refer by my wife. Completed an over the phone assessment for depression and anxiety and then offered various options, none of which I thought would help as I find talking about my problems very hard. I agreed to sign up for a Wellbeing Webinar which would focus on CBT. Although I was very sceptical, I logged on to the first session and within a few minutes, realised I wasn’t going to be able to interact as I had no text box on my screen so unable to answer questions. The person taking the session said at the outset that it wouldn’t matter if you just wanted to sit back and listen but later went on to say that it was difficult for them to help if I didn’t interact? I found the whole experience very frustrating and has left me feeling lower and more suicidal than ever. Just what I needed!

• Reply from Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney (IAPT)

  Thank you for taking the time to feed back to us, and I am sorry that your experience of the webinar was not positive. I appreciate that you find it hard to talk, and I am sorry that none of the interventions we offer sounded helpful for you. As you are clearly struggling, please do contact the service by calling 0300 123 1503, or emailing us at admin@wellbeingnandw.co.uk, and we can arrange for someone to speak with you some more regarding the help that you need. You can also access urgent mental health support by calling NHS 111 and choosing Option 2, for the urgent mental health support line

• "One size fits all" Wellbeing Service

  2

  Submitted by Anonymous 25th October 2022

  My experience of the Wellbeing service was a little bit hit & miss - it felt like a service based on the ethos of "one size fits all" & it did not seem to care about trying to give any long-term stability to its clients. It seemed quite a 'disjointed' process - I initially had a small number of sessions with a PWP (which I did not find especially helpful, if I am totally honest, as the PWP I was assigned to seemed very young & inexperienced, & it often felt like she was just reading a script off a prompt card) I then got put on another waiting list for some more intense type of therapy…& spent about 5 months without any support whatsoever whilst I was waiting to get to the ‘top’ of this list. I was then very fortunate to be assigned to a CBT therapist who was very down-to-earth, kind & compassionate, & always tried her best to make me feel at ease in my sessions. However, under the NHS 'Wellbeing' service rules, clients are discharged from the service when they have reached their 'quota' of sessions, rather than when they actually feel more ready to cope without any help. Therefore, my sessions have now ended – not because I feel ready to cope without support, or my therapist feels I am ready to cope unsupported – they have ended because some random person who knows nothing about "me" has decided that it does not matter whether I am ok or not, all they care about is that I have used up my ‘set quota’ of sessions, so I must be discharged from the service. The Wellbeing Service claims on its website to offer “a range of flexible services tailored to meet your specific needs”...so surely, if that means that someone needs a higher number of sessions with a therapist to help them in their recovery than the NICE “standard” says they should have, because they have more complex issues, then why shouldn’t they be entitled to that? I do not personally think that it is a caring service to make vulnerable people with issues like anxiety or depression feel like they are so easily disposed of from the very service that is supposed to be helping, supporting and protecting them.

• Reply from Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney (IAPT)

  I am sorry to hear that your experience was not all good. Thank you for the positive feedback about the CBT therapist that you saw. As an IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) service, we are commissioned by the NHS to provide brief therapies to a very large number of people every year. This means that we cannot offer unlimited support, because if we did then others would just wait for longer. We do however provide treatment in line with NICE Guidance, which provides recommendations both for the type of treatment and the number of sessions in order to provide the best outcomes for people. Sometimes more treatment sessions do not necessarily lead to better outcomes, and I hope that your therapist gave you the opportunity to explore how you felt at the end, especially as you did not feel ready for discharge, and I hope that your therapist was comfortable with their decision to discharge you at that point. If this was not the case, then please do get in touch with us, and we will be very happy to review your case and the treatment that you were offered.

• Waiting waiting waiting

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 20th August 2022

  I have been on the waiting list for trauma therapy for 10 months. I get a text message every three months and that is the extent of their interest in my wellbeing.

• Reply from Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney (IAPT)

  I am sorry to hear you have been waiting so long, this does sound an unusually long time to be waiting. You should have received a text message each month with details of how to access support while waiting, and of how to contact us with any queries. Please do contact Wellbeing on 0300 123 1503, so that we can look into your case and get you seen as soon as possible.

• No face to face

  4

  Submitted by Collected at Healthwatch Norfolk event 21st February 2022

  I was told that a face to face meeting was being arranged but then I had a call to say that they weren't doing face to face, and that it was only over the phone. I have a friend who was using the service elsewhere in Norfolk who has people that go out to see her. I'd have preferred face to face, but the calls did help.

• Reply from Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney (IAPT)

  I am sorry that you were not able to access face to face support. We are gradually returning to offering face to face for some of our interventions and this will be increasing over time. We can also offer video calls which most people find very helpful as you can see each other but without the need to wear a mask. I am glad that you found the calls helpful. Thank you for your feedback.

• Awful and dangerous service.

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 5th November 2021

  Not taken seriously and so called “ psychotherapist” mocked me for what I struggle with and put the phone down on me after years of plucking up the courage to ask for help.

• Reply from Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney (IAPT)

  I am sorry that you didn\'t find Wellbeing helpful for you. If you would like to get in touch with the service again on 0300 123 1503, we will be very happy to look into this for you.

• Referred by a G.P. had an initial assessment

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 9th March 2021

  ..Was told they'd be in touch with some helpful ideas/plan. Weeks passed then was called to confirm my email address.

• Reply from Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney (IAPT)

  I am sorry to hear that your experience of our service has not been positive. Should you wish to discuss this further then please contact us on 0300 123 1503.

• not given any support

  1

  Submitted by 30th September 2020

  Bad experience, they seemed like they were not interested in my depression. Told they don’t do long term counselling, thus not given any support. Its taken years for me to reach out and I feel abandoned. Told to go to charities or pay for counselling, which I can’t afford. Seemed like I didn’t matter ☹

• Reply from Wellbeing Norfolk and Waveney (IAPT)

  Thank you for providing us with feedback. We are very sorry to hear your experience with the Wellbeing Service especially as you were brave enough to reach out after years. The Wellbeing Service is a Primary Care Mental Health Service meaning we are commissioned to provide treatment for people with mild to moderate mental health problems. This is in the form of workshops, online guided self-help, telephone or face-to-face support, CBT and short-term counselling. As this feedback is anonymous, unfortunately, we are unable to understand the full details of your case and whether the outcome of your assessment was appropriate. If you would like to discuss this in more detail and I would encourage you to contact us on 0300 123 1503.

• Poor experience

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 23rd March 2020

  My GP referred me to the Wellbeing Service. Because I was on the waiting list for so long I started seeing a private therapist. He was very good but not able to see me regularly enough. When the Wellbeing service finally offered me an appointment I had to stop seeing the private therapist before I could have any treatment from the wellbeing service. All I was offered by the Wellbeing Service however was a group session and it was terrible. Consequently I am now not seeing anyone.

  
  
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