Published on 12, July, 2020
So several months after see my GP and filling out all the paper work I finally get a response. I'm told that I have been accepted for a referral, but this will be "at least 20 months". I think I would have gone insane before then. Then Covid hits, so 20 months for a face to face is more like 3 years. Then I hear about Healios on here. So I ask my GP to be referred there instead. Again, fill out the forms! Then yesterday my GP told me that Berkshire NHS don't refer adults to the service!
I'm now 45, this whole thing is hard enough as it is, and like a lot of people on here, I have been pushed around the system for 20 years. Told I have anxiety, let's treat that, you have depression, let's treat treat. You finally end up with something that feels real and I can relate to and I have to wait 3 years to even find out if it's true this time.
I'm so upset, I really don't know what to do. Not only does the decision feel like age discrimination, but it makes me feel so unimportant in the world it's hard not to think "what's the point"
You are important. The NHS feels like this is a big enough issue to put their funds into it and you will get to the top of the list. I think they give out those figures to help manage expectations. I was told 3 years but seen within 18 months.
As Plastic has mentioned an NHS assessment is only one option. I'm part of a FB group for a local city and there are a number of adults on there who have recently been accessed for only £750 and this has been at a world-class facility. If waiting is going to be very difficult for you could you afford this out of your saving? If you don't have that amount of cash available could you get a credit card or loan and pay this off in small chunks?
Thanks, it’s reassuring you were seen a lot quicker. I’m not sure there is anywhere in the southeast that will do a private assessment for £750, but I’d be prepared to drive to Timbuktu at this moment in time.