No consent

[Guest Another Spartacus]

Hi peeps,

 

I was refered to a counselling service by my GP recently as I suffer with anxiety and depresion problems.

 

Further to the initial consultation at the NHS counselling service I then received an appointment to see someone at my GP's surgery.

 

I was thankfull to finally be getting some help.

 

This week I have received a letter and questionare from a counselling service that I had never heard of.

 

Further to 'Googling' the companies name I was shocked to find it was actually a charity that specialise in rape and abuse counselling and nothing to do with the NHS.

 

So I complained to the 'Manager' at the NHS counselling service that I was not happy that my personal and private information had been shared with abuse charity.

 

At no time had I given anyone permision to divulge my details to outside companies.

 

Where do I stand and who do I complain to.

 

The NHS 'Manager' was dismissive of my complaint and I was told that the charity have a contract with the NHS.

 

It all just smacks of quango's to me

 

I am livid to say the least

[Conniff]

It matters not if they have a contract or not, the surgery must have made the contact with them and given details. I would send a letter by recorded delivery in a brown envelope bought at your local newsagent and headed 'Official Complaint'.

 

Medical records are supposedly confidential and you should have been asked if you want to see them before contact.

[speedfreek]

Counseling as a service does not exist on the NHS as such!

 

What exist now is on the NHS for treatment is now only IAPT. That's it!

 

How counseling works is that Counseling Collectives are formed that bid for the NHS GP Counseling contracts.

 

Same for alcohol, drugs and even blood tests.

 

The fact that your counseling is taking place in your GP Practice indicates that it is that Counseling collective has won the contract at your practice.

 

Although some specialise - do you not think that their general counseling skills or commitment too you will be fine?

 

This is mine at present and these folks hold the Counseling Contracts for all GP in my NHS area since October 2012

 

http://www.theawarenesscentre.com/

 

They specialise in sweaty yoga (Bikram) ooooh! Counseling service is great though!

 

I've been with them since April 2012 and have had my current counselor there in weekly sessions since July 2012.

 

There has been no breach of data protection as you will have to opt in to the service!

 

They will have absolutely non of your GP records! Probably not even access to them until you opt in.

 

So what exactly is your problem?

 

I will politely suggest you do some research into counseling (it's various styles) and what you have to put into it to get the most out of it.

 

Have a read of the NICE website http://www.nice.org.uk/ for treatment options, your rights and what you should be told.

[Guest Another Spartacus]

Thanks for that information Connif.

 

I'll write to them with my complaint on Tuesday.

[speedfreek]

Complaint about what exactly?

 

That they are trying to get you help?

 

Expect rejection ridicule and good luck with that! As you will get nowhere!

 

Go for it! Report back!

 

[fletch70]

Mental health provision within the NHS is a nightmare. In my area there is a company that took over the contract and it is all based in CBT. However i was referred to MIND who give you 6 sessions free,after that you need to pay. It is a joke although the lady i saw was excellent.

[speedfreek]

Mental health provision within the NHS is a nightmare. In my area there is a company that took over the contract and it is all based in CBT. However i was referred to MIND who give you 6 sessions free,after that you need to pay. It is a joke although the lady i saw was excellent.

 

Mental Health on the NHS ended last year!

 

Seriously it did but who cares? Well you will if you have a need now!

 

It is now part of the DWP Health Work & Wellbeing program.

 

All NHS treatment is funneled through and controlled via a service called IAPT.

 

IAPT are atrocious, will via nonfeasance, misfeasance & Malfeasance just completely ignore anything you or anybody else tells them.

 

6 - 12 sessions of CBT or drugs is all you will get now period unless you pay!

 

IAPT set up by the DWP, micro managed by the DWP, defunded by 50% in 2010 and issued a non progression of staff dictate in 2011! It operates on the same principles and dodgy data sets (as instructed by the DWP) more a kin to ESA and the WCA test than an NHS service to help you. It's basically a shoddy, not fit for purpose telephone help line (sic).

 

You have a serious mental health issue; explain it to us via a 20 minute phone call. Pathetic!

 

Have referrals and reports indicating anything not in our IAPT mandate forget it! We will lose & then ignore them even if we sent you to the service they came from.

 

This is my specialist subject and I'm about to go to war on them!

 

I've got an outstanding SAR (IAPT seam to have lost a years patient records on me), covert audio recordings and am scrabbling together what little support there is left out there. Finding support and help is now even harder than getting treatment from IAPT!

 

IAPTs main design is to stop all access to anything other than 6-12 sessions of CBT and thus end the expense of mental health treatment via the NHS and facilitate (by the use of fiddled/selective statistics) the sell off of all specialist hospitals and the disbanding of all specialist teams by 2015.

 

Rant over!

[fletch70]

I may be wrong but knowing someone who works in gp based mental health my understanding was that there are various service providers that provider the service. They provide services as per contracts with the local NHS for want of a better explanation. However this varies from area to area. One area provides support for the LGBT. community but an adjoining area doesn't. so it is a post code lottery.

The therapists are targeted on improvements so that little form you fill in makes a difference.

If you score too high you will be out of their remit,if you score too low the same.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I'm slightly confused; OP says there was a referral, but is annoyed that it was to a contracted service.

 

There's no difference between a referral to another part of the NHS (e.g. physio, or a hospital specialist), and one to a contracted service provider. There would be an issue if the GP had made the referral without discussing it with the patient, but this doesn't seem to be the case here.

 

What would the OP do if, after an accident, an ambulance from a contracted service provider arrived? Or an agency nurse was part of the team looking after him/her on a ward, or a locum doctor - these are all contracted service providers? Similarly, most GPs now utilise contracts for laboratory work and sometimes imaging too. I suspect that it would be impractical to gain specific consent every time.

 

The referral would be no different, and the contractors will work to the same level of confidentiality as the NHS. It must be obvious that a referral cannot be made without sharing data - in my view that would be the time for OP to have asked about data sharing if it was a matter of concern.

[Guest Another Spartacus]

In response, I take exception to my private details being passed to a rape councelling service.

 

My GP was not involved in this referal.

 

This was information about my childhood which I understood to be confidential between the councilor and myself.

 

Close the thread please and remove it as I find that some of the replies have been confrontational to say the least, some replies have been distressing to me.

 

Thankyou

[fletch70]

I am sure we are all sorry if you found any comments distressing or confrontational. If I understand it correctly and i may be wrong,you saw a therapist who has now referred you to a specialist service. This is due to issues in your past?

 

You did not naked this clear at the start which is your right, however at that point i was thinking that you has seen an assesor at the surgery who had referred you to the contract holder who happen to specialise in rape and abuse cases.

 

There is no need for you to tell anyone here which is,if either is correct. People were only trying to help

[citizenB]

Thread has been closed in order to prevent further posts being made.

 

Although I have to agree, I fail to see where there have been any confrontational responses.