Comments on: Hilariously and Predictably Shite Response Letter from the Trust

By: Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:10:55 +0000

Result!

Very very proud of you for doing it … can’t wait for the response

<3 xx

By: Pandora

Pandora — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:11:13 +0000

Using GirlInterrupted’s template, I have composed the letter. Let the battle commence. Mwhahahahahaha!!!

By: Pandora

Pandora — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:50:52 +0000

Thanks Lou! I really appreciate you saying that; it’s always really nice to hear that the blog has some use

Thanks again, take care of yourself xxx

By: lou_c

lou_c — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:26:32 +0000

Am pleased I found you Pandora – your blog especially has been a great insight for me, and am somewhat reassured by lots of stuff that you have written about !

Catch you soon !

Lou

By: Pandora

Pandora — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:00:14 +0000

It almost doesn’t matter anymore whether or not this succeeds in continuing my sessions with C; it’s now about fucking the system and pisding the bastards right the fuck off I think this letter will more than achieve that x

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:22:54 +0000

Pan, can I just second this. Girl, Interrupted’s response is perfect and will piss this twat up no end. You go girls!!!

Kate

By: Pandora

Pandora — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:30:34 +0000

I don’t know what to say. Thank you! I’m really chuffed. It’s always very heartening to know people take anything from my writing, never mind entertainment and laughter Thanks very much Leroy, I really appreciate it!

C and I have had our differences over the months certainly, but ultimately I agree; he’s good at what he does. He also finds this particular situation frustrating I think; he wants to help, but the budgetary constraints and lack of resources are conspiring against him. Basically it’s a nightmare for all concerned

Anyway, thanks again – please feel free to comment any time, I’d love to hear from you

Pan x

By: Pandora

Pandora — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:27:26 +0000

Thanks Alison – they should be bloody ashamed of themselves! I know it’s meant to be ‘free’, but seriously – it’s also meant to be a service, and in that it’s failing remarkably

By: Pandora

Pandora — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:26:19 +0000

Thanks Sanity. It is a bloody nightmare. I could (and probably ultimately will have to) go private, but the difficulty is, aside from the difficulty in financing it, I already have the requisite therapeutic relationship required for progressive work, after after 12 years within both the private and public systems, I’ve not experienced that before. So it’ll be difficult to find that again

By: Pandora

Pandora — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:24:20 +0000

Only 2 specialist workers in the proposed Personality Disorders trust?

To meet the need, there should be – at a bare mininum – 20 to 25. Then after some years they can train and so on.

Adelaide, you are absolutely spot-on. The fact that the fact they’re hiring a pathetic two people was reported in the letter as if it was something for which I should be grateful, but we are talking about a fairly large demographical and geographic area, so how they think this is remotely adequate is completely beyond me.

Meanwhile, here’s something very much like this while you think of writing a letter. It was released on the 22nd February of this year.

Mental Health Promotion in Northern Ireland: has lots of addresses and networks

This is brilliant. Thanks for finding that I’ll be bringing the included points into my response!

Take care x

By: Leroy

Leroy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:58:26 +0000

I don’t think I’ve read such a wryly funny or intelligent blog. Congratulations; it’s fantastic. Although I neither work nor am treated in the mental health sphere, this has held my interest (intently) and made me laugh and splutter aloud on more than one occasion. P.S. C sounds like a bloody saint, or at least a man very good at his job.

By: Alison

Alison — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:53:16 +0000

Typical spout of crap from the NHS! What a lot of utter bollocks!

By: Adelaide Dupont

Adelaide Dupont — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:49:48 +0000

Pandora:

Only 2 specialist workers in the proposed Personality Disorders trust?

To meet the need, there should be – at a bare mininum – 20 to 25. Then after some years they can train and so on.

(There should also be substansive seed funding and it should be recurrent).

The point is, more people should have more access to someone like C (or a therapist/psychiatrist/psychologist who they have a rapport with) and for longer.

Meanwhile, here’s something very much like this while you think of writing a letter. It was released on the 22nd February of this year.

Mental Health Promotion in Northern Ireland: has lots of addresses and networks

And even I saw the letter came on your first anniversary with C.

By: sanityisknocking

sanityisknocking — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:55:08 +0000

SI, I don’t know how the funding works in your area (since I am in Canada) but from your experiences….geesh…I’m really glad I can afford to pay for services because I couldn’t go through your experiences with trying to get appropriate care.

By: Pandora

Pandora — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:56:52 +0000

Thanks hun

As I said to Lou above, even if the new letter fails, at least I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that it will have pissed this idiot off…therefore I too would give almost anything to be a fly on the wall when he receives it. Mwhahahaha!

At the end of the day they can’t be allowed to palm people off in this inane fashion any longer. Wankers.

Take care x

By: Pandora

Pandora — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:50:34 +0000

You’re absolutely right Lou; shoddy service is peddled to people on the NHS and because it’s ‘free’ of sorts, many seem to accept it. When complaints do occur, they fail at the first hurdle because some bland, meaningless crap like this is meant to satiate the complainant.

I was going to let it lie, but you and the others are all right – they win, and after all my efforts, I lose…and so do other/future patients.

At the end of the day, even if it doesn’t work, it’ll annoy the miserable old bastard, and that’s satisfying in and of itself

Thanks for commenting, great to see you here! Take care x

By: lost1234

lost1234 — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:29:09 +0000

I loved your additions it made me smile. Shame the letter didn’t actually say anything useful. I think you are right not to let them get away with just a bland letter. Chase them, Girl Interrupted’s reply was excellent i wonder how they would react to it being sent in it’s entirerity i’d like to be a fly on the wall.

By: lou_c

lou_c — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:21:45 +0000

Too many people (in my humble opinion) simply accept what they are presented with, tolerate it, and let things become the “norm…”, thus letting too many other people simply get away with delivering poor, inadequate, and in some cases blatantly unsuitable “service”…

Mental Health services in my experience are rarely given feedback, challenged, or even questioned by us users, and without users driving change, these things are unlikely to change for the better. Staying silent creates a lottery, and is choosing to leave things to chance.

Well done on making a noise. For what it’s worth, I think that crappy reply most definitely deserves a muscular response! Go get ‘em!

By: Pandora

Pandora — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:41:21 +0000

Thank you.

<3 <3 <3 ad infinitum

xxx

By: Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:32:49 +0000

Hurrah!

We’re all here for you darlin, just let us know how we can be of help – remember you’re not alone in this at all … draw our our communal strength when you feel like giving up.

Bring on the system~smashing!