Becoming a 'Mystery Shopper' of Primary Mental Health Services

Although I'd recently been 'released' back into the wild and had become a service survivor rather than a user, recent events saw me seeking the help of my GP again for depression. My GP deemed this to be a mild, reactive depression rather than a recurrence of clinical depression (amazing how she could tell from a ten minute consultation).

I was referred to the 'Stepping Forward' programme.

Stepping Forward is part of the primary care mental health service in South Warwickshire. I was referred at the end of November 2008 and had my 'assessment' at the end of December 2008. Assessment for what? Well, assessment to see what I could be deemed worthy of accessing under the primary mental health care umbrella.

I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and not only see what I could access to help me, but I'd also blog about my experiences of the service.

So, following my hour-long assessment, I was offered the following:

A further assessment for access to Cedarwood (Day Services) at St Michael's Hospital in Warwick

To be put on the waiting list for a further assessment for access to psychotherapy at St Michael's Hospital

A list of private registered psychotherapists in the South Warwickshire area


So, basically, more assessment....

Here's some feedback on the process so far:

An appointment was offered to me very quickly. I rang one day and was offered an appointment two days later.

The assessment was held in my own GP surgery, so hence no unnecessary travelling.

The person who conducted the assessment was very pleasant, very clear about what was happening and what would happen in the future.

On a less positive note, the person who conducted the assessment, whilst very competent, did not tell me what her role was or how she was qualified to undertake the assessment (i.e. a psychologist? A CPN?)

I was warned that to access day services at St Michael's I would need to go through another hour long assessment. Same with accessing psychotherapy. Whilst I realise there needs to be cofidentiality and care taken with sensitive information gained during assessments, it does seem that there is a lack of 'joined-up working' (how I hate that expression!) Three separate assessments does seem rather excessive.

I'll blog further when the next assessment looms....