Anonymous Mummy Blogger

Following on from the several threads I have made on Twitter regarding confidentiality in NHS Mental Health services, I have decided to write a blog post highlighting exactly how far my personal information, including childhood sexual abuse disclosures, have travelled across several services within the NHS, and also outside of the NHS. These numbers include all Mental Health professionals/other professionals who have had access to my medical records since I was first referred to the Community Mental Health Team towards the end of 2011 up until the present day. Professionals from within the Community Mental Health Team: 5 Care Coordinators 1 Support Worker 1 Occupational Therapist  1 Psychologist  6 Psychiatrists An unknown number of extra professionals as a result of MDT’s/team meetings/team formulations Professionals from within the Crisis Team Services: At least 15+ different crisis team workers  5 Crisis Team Psychiatrists ...

I have seen several tweets and blogs recently from people who have experienced poor (and in many cases - abusive) care from community mental health services, both from outpatient services and inpatient services. This has made me reflect on my own experiences, and to realise just how different my experiences of mental health care have been, when comparing the different services I have been under the care of. When I compare my treatment from community mental health services with that of perinatal mental health services, I have come to realise that the care I received from perinatal services has been of such a high standard, that it puts my local CMHT (Community Mental Health Team) to shame, despite both services coming from the same Mental Health Trust. Why is that? I was under the care of the CMHT for several years prior to my pregnancy and during that time, I received poor care from the very people who were supposed to help and support me. I can recall several experiences of d...