Not a good appointment

Since I've been at university, my GP and my former care co-ordinator have both been trying to get me some contact with the local CMHT (Community Mental Health Team) to set up an appointment with a care co-ordinator there. This is currently not happening and no amount of suggesting it might be important (as I am currently without care) is making it happen.

Instead, I have been referred to the laughingly euphemistic "Complex Needs" service. I accepted and confirmed the appointment as instructed (left a voicemail that wasn't returned and also sent an email). I was really impressed with the appointment letter they sent me, which contained detailed directions through the health service complex to the right building and an outline of how to gain admission.

Sadly, the reality was somewhat different. It was snowing over most of England today, and the south was badly hit. I arrived for my 2:30 appointment in the middle of a snow storm, and reception was closed. A helpful note on the door suggested I ring the buzzer for my appointment. I did, and no one answered, but I was 10 minutes early so I waited.

At 2:30, I rang the buzzer again. Again, it rang inside the building but wasn't answered. Gave it a few minutes, tried again. And a third time. Then a nice person from the next door building stuck their head out and said they'd tried to phone the complex needs team but no one was answering. Now, I know from experience that appearing not to show up for an appointment (for whatever reason) pushes you right back down the pile and mental health waiting lists are unpredictable things. So I waited some more. At 2:55, just as I was about to give up, a member of staff walked out of the building. I explained the situation, and she let me in and found a colleague of hers to help. He then found the woman I was due to see and she came to find me.

It didn't get much better from there. Firstly, she kept calling me Rachel (which is not even close to being my name), and then she told me that she did call reception but because no one answered the phone she assumed I hadn't shown up. Not especially logical, but she wasn't to know I was stranded outside.

The appointment itself then didn't go too well. I had filled in a detailed questionnaire, which she mis-read and barely gave me a right of reply. She ended up concluding the following:
1) I haven't self harmed since I arrived at university
I self-harm daily, often more than once in a day
2) It is easy to get to my university town, x, from my home town, y
I don't drive and there is no public transport between the two.
3) Despite that, I shouldn't bother coming back for appointments during the six-week vacation...
????
4)...because I am safe at home
I feel least safe at home


So, although I tried to interject and explain where her assumptions were wrong, I failed. So that was perhaps the worst appointment I've been to since the Austrian psychiatrist who told me (aged 17) that I'm gay because I don't feel attractive enough to be straight....