Person Centered?

Struggled with a title as every one I came up with had a swear word in it… so not the best start to a blog.

I waited 13 months for an appointment to see a clinical psychologist through the NHS.

You know, I didn’t actually care who I saw, but the psychiatrist and psychologist who did my assessment said it would be the clinical psychologist.

So… thirteen months later I finally get my appointment. I go along for my appointment and because it’s been so long our first appointment is another assessment to see how things are going.

“Well,” the woman I saw asked, how was my drinking was going? It’s going pretty good, I wasn’t drinking.

“Oh!” she said, looking surprised. “What support network are you using?” she asked.

“AA,” I said.

“Oh! AA… I’m not up on all the acronyms, which one’s that?”

And there you have it. I knew this did not look like it would go well.

When I said 13 months is an awfully long time to wait to see someone and not even get a letter during that time to check to actually see if I am still alive… she said she understood my issues with this and would take my complaint to her bosses.

She also made it plain that I was lucky to be seeing her as there are only one and a half clinical psychologists in the whole of this area.

Makes me actually glad I got the ‘whole’… clinical psychologist… and feeling sorry for the folk out there who only get the ‘half’ a one.

One thing we spoke about was I gamble sometimes for escapism. She said we can get you help with that.. there is a number of a place you can phone. Unfortunately, she could not refer me, but could get the number for me. It would take her a little while though to get the number off one of her colleagues who wasn’t in the office.

I told her the number was in the waiting room on the wall downstairs… she laughed. I felt like saying give me a pen and I’ll get it myself, but I wanted to give her a chance. Trying to have faith in the system.

She told me how our sessions would work… we would have six weekly sessions to get to know each other so I could trust her and then when that happened, we would cut the sessions down to fortnightly.

I told her I work full-time shift work… and sometimes am away a few days at a time. She told me she only worked two and a half days a week. So as it was we couldn’t see each other the following week.

I had to cancel the next week. I gave plenty of notice so they said they would send out another appointment. They did. It arrived two days before the appointment on a day I had told her I could not go. Enclosed was a card for the gambling place… a card that had been on the desk in the waiting room down the stairs. Again, I phoned and explained.

I spoke to her personal secretary and said I was so snowed under with work and I am very sorry about this but I cannot make an appointment again until the beginning of October. I know she is a busy lady… but so am I.

I really felt guilty about taking up her time and taking time away from her that she could be spending with someone else.

So today… I received an appointment. The appointment is for Thursday, 15th of October at 10.30 am. I received the letter at 3.00 pm on the 15th October.

It’s just not meant to be. The letter says if you have difficulty getting to this appointment please let us know. Do you think lack of time travel ability is a valid excuse?

I won’t be back. I am not even going to answer the letter. They will take me off their books and someone else will get an appointment. When i do contact them it’s a joke. The game has gone on long enough and I am not into games anymore.