"hi, I think I have a broken leg, its hurting really badly"
"Ok, go and sit in the waiting room and I'll get someone to see you ASAP!
1 hour and a half later
Triage nurse calls you in
"Hi I think I have a broken leg, its hurting really badly"
"o, um, you'll need to see a specialist for that, I think I just seen them, go and sit back down and I'll get them to call you in"
Half an hour later
"Hi, yes, the specialist is with another patient now, but dont worry your next. I'll take you round to a ward to wait for them"
You are escorted to a cubicle with a couple of chairs to wait.
2AM the nurse pops her head round,
"o, your still here? um, lets see what I can find out"
At 2:15 you get a phone call from the specialist saying that because its 2 am theres not a lot they can do right now, and apologise that the day team didnt pass your case to the night team, but if you go home they'll get someone to ring you in the morning to discuss what the best option is.
11:30 am someone rings with an appointment to be assessed next wednesday. Its friday now, but you'll wait. Hopefully someone will help.
Wednesday
You go to the appointment and spend 45 minutes talking about your broken leg and at the end the assessor says that they have a team meeting on a friday and that he will take your case to them so they can discuss treatment options and he will give you a ring on friday.
Friday
"Hi, its the doctor from wednesday about your broken right leg (It was your left as you correct him, no apology,but a laugh) Of course. yes. thats right. So yes, we think it might need some help this leg, because as you say you are in pain. So what we are going to do is refer you to a pain management group, its a really great 5 week group course and I think its going to really help. Now I know you mentioned on wednesday you have been taking some painkillers, I think you need to perserve with those for the time being, because I am sure they will start to work soon. And Exercise, yes we think a nice bit of excercise will help to heal that broken arm of yours. I'll also want to see you in 5 weeks time to see how your going, bye.
The doctor monologues so you dont have time to respond to any of this.
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You wouldn't accept this for a phyical health condition, you would expect to be treated. This is a slightly altered but pretty factual account of my experiences over the last 2 weeks of trying to get help for my mental health issue. First through the accident and emergency department and then through the local Community Mental Health Team. Everything the CMHT recommended I already have access to and am already doing (or have done before and its not been helpful, which was all mentioned during the assessment).
