Coastal Integrated Delivery Team (IDT) - Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

My diagnosis is severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) with episodes of Depression and Suicide ideation. I have suffered greatly with this condition for many years and periodically the symptoms cause me to become overwhelmed, desperate and despairing. It was these symptoms that recently resulted in me being referred to the Mental Health Team in order to discover any help that they could offer.

I attended the assessment with the support of a Mental Health Nurse that works for a Charity in the community. It was this Nurse that recently became concerned about my welfare and set me on the path to IDT. It was as a result of visiting a Doctor at the Grove Medical Centre that I was referred on to the Mental Health Team. After being assessed over a lengthy phone call a date and time was then agreed in order for me to attend Walker Close. This appointment was made over a phone call.

When we arrived for the assessment I was shocked to discover that there wasn’t a room available for this to take place. We then had to wait for approximately 30 minutes until one became free. This news only exacerbated my anxiety.

I can’t remember there being a formal introduction from the two Assessors. Indeed, I only discovered their full names when asking the Receptionist at the end of the meeting.

They appeared hostile from the moment we met. The lady in particular was passive aggressive throughout the assessment. When discussing my disorder I found her to be arrogant, disrespectful and insensitive. I am at the mercy of this debilitating disorder all day every day and from the lady's constant and blunt questioning was made to feel that having this illness was somehow my fault and that I wasn’t trying hard enough to deal with it. She was indeed patronising, insulting and condescending with no empathy.

I naturally thought that so much depended on this important assessment because if the Mental Health Team couldn’t help me with my disorder then who could? I so much wanted help but when I discovered that none would be forthcoming I suddenly became incredibly anxious, distressed and desperate. As a consequence of what I believe to have been the lady's rude and unprofessional approach I felt hopeless, humiliated and embarrassed. I found the whole process very upsetting.

Adding insult to injury, I later found a message on my phone that had been left approximately ten minutes before the assessment was due to begin. It was from the same lady assessor, cancelling the appointment with no explanation as to why. From having to find a suitable date and time in which my Mental Health Nurse could attend and take me to the assessment to the expense from travelling from Felixstowe to Ipswich; this cancellation wasn’t just an inconvenience it was disgraceful.

Our son, who has suffered with severe OCD/depression for many years, was told by 1st phone call he had extreme issues, but when arrived today was dealt with by 2 different people who were patronising and spoke down to him & gave him little opportunity to express his issues. They seemed to have already made up their mind he was not ill and signed him off. How on earth can they judge this in just a few minutes of meeting him and left him distraught with no help whatsoever!!

The staff in the youth team show no care towards you and offer zero help only medication. Been promised
Many of things by them but have never been delivered. Been discharged twice, once straight after receiving my BPD diagnosis and now straight after an overdose and SH. No wonder why the suicide rate is so high.

As family who communicate with the IDT on behalf of our ill relative we would like to see other agencies involved linking up holistically. GP, care agencies and dentists etc. A person centred plan that gets everyone communicating. This would need a co-ordinated approach.

Since being under (Drs names removed) & (name removed) (Support worker), my treatment has been absolutely outstanding! I say this after 40 years of NOT being diagnosed in Chelmsford, so moving to Ipswich had massive advantages for me. I have never felt so understood - Thank you Team!

years of being put on and taken off different waiting lists, not being able to even speak to the manager of my care, her being combative with me. I even tried their crisis services only to be told they were refusing me help because my care coordinator hadn't made me a care plan.

I’ve received no therapy, support or treatment for a year now. Thanks to an advocate, I’ve been assigned a care coordinator. But they have no care to offer me, and have told me if I go private they’ll discharge me.

The service is grossly under resourced, so difficult to get to see a psychiatrist, the process is so long to actually get a diagnosis and treatment or medication, meanwhile the cyp and their families are suffering. Had experience of a complex safeguarding child and they had a detailed assessment referral and then processed the referral through ewbh and I attended the face to face assessment and the information provided for the assessor was very very sparse and did not have my very detailed referral which had important background and they was told they would have therapy and this didn’t happen, this is despite 3 referrals x3 for suicidal thoughts. No feedback to the referrer is an normal occurrence.

Our consultant has known our son since he was 5. He “gets” him which helps. Always calls back/responds, doesn’t always have a plan but then neither do we!

My CPN was outstanding but I wasn't happy when he left and the new care coordinator wasn't a qualified nurse and she discharged me. Don't know whether the psychiatrist was involved in this decision. Quite a lot of changes of psychiatrist over the years