Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I’m 21 (female not that it really matters to me) I went to the drs for my mental health as I’m really struggling with all aspects of life at the moment. Being an adult is HARD. I’m starting a new job on 15th as an apprentice in an office witch I’m really looking forward to but also really nervous and really sad about leaving my other job and other things. My dr says I have a lot of adult things going on and that I might not be quite ready to deal with it all on my own.
I told my dr everything that’s going on and she’s got me referred for a social prescriber. Brilliant. Just one question. What on earth do they do? I’ve tried googling it but I can’t wrap my head around it.
Thanks,
Andi
Hi, I have had a social prescriber for over 6 months and I understand that their roles vary hugely between providers but this is my experience.
I've just lost my Social Prescriber but in my case he was amazing. I was unable to access a load of mh services because a lot of them relied on phone calls which I can't do. He basically acted as a mix of advocate and interpreter, making phone calls when needed, making referrals, calling places up to see how things in my referral were progressing. They are designed to help you access other services, rather than provide the services directly, and also help you organise the tasks you need to do.
He also helped me plan and write emails I needed to in order to try and set up support at uni and helped me get a GP appointment that I was struggling to get because again, phone calls, that allowed me to get the medication I needed to manage my menstrual cycle that was causing me a lot of problems and started a finally good relationship with a GP which leaves me in a better position for the future.
My issues were MH, yours might be different so here's some examples of what they could do: Help get you access to employment support, help access activities that may be good for your wellbeing
Yes they are a referral service, but unlike most services in this NHS they are a long term and person focused referral service and in my case did absolutely not believe in dumping as soon as the referral was made, and kept trying and working with me no matter how difficult accessing the other services were. I'd give it a go, and keep an open mind for what they suggest.
That sounds like fantastic support you had and I really need someone like that in my life.
Unfortunately my experience with a Social Prescriber was nothing like yours. I was referred for help with a specific issue, that was overwhelming and distressing me and needed to be dealt with by phone. It was agreed that the Social Prescriber would communicate with me by email and then make phone calls on my behalf. However in practice she was not making calls when she said she would and then not responding to my emails chasing it. I found that impossible to deal with and stopped using the service.
Phone calls are a huge problem for me too. Nearly every organisation apart from GPs and MH Services will allow contact by other methods, such as email or live chat. I do not understand why they make it so difficult for autistic people to access help. I think they should be making reasonable adjustments. I have stopped trying to access help, due to these issues, but it leaves me so angry and frustrated with the system.
Still it gives me some hope to read your experience, and to know that there are people like that who genuinely try to help.
I did end up getting refused by every single MH service but that wasn't the SPs fault. I went for a SP after I had an incident where I used the email provided on the website, only to receive an auto reply saying that the email wasn't monitored and to ring the phone number instead. It also took having an in person appointment with my GP for them to give me an email to contact them by.
And despite every single mh referral asking them not to call me without making an appointment first and preferably not doing so at all, every single mh service ignored that. Including one where they got off a call with my SP not 5 mins before in which he said at the end "please remember to not phone them out of the blue" and they promptly did just that. I've come to the conclusion that they don't care.
It is utterly ridiculous that they can't make even the most simple of changes