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Care Opinion

Patient Confidentality .

Posted By Unhappy service

"Patient Confidentality ."

About: Sligo/Leitrim Mental Health Services

(as a service user),

I contacted my Gp who referred me to Ballymote as I requested.I attended a clinic where I was assessed by a nurse, who then was to arrange an appointment for me with the details I had provided and patient confidentiality explained to her the reasons  why I could attend in Ballymote.

The following day she rang me at 9 am she was trying to arrange an appoint for me while constantly talking to someone else in the office, this was quite distressing and said when an appointment had been arranged I would attend. 

She then started to send me texts about appointments in Sligo, which I had previously explaned the reasons why I coudnt attend there.

She then rang again and kept pressuring me with dates.

I was unable to attend the appointment arranged in Sligo due to health issues , she then got a councillor to ring me without prior warning when my children were home from school.

The councillor was from my Local area and I had previously explaned to the nurse about patient confidentiality. I have previously spoken to this persons partner locally a few years ago in general but guess what, I then saw this person in the local supermarket who did everything they could to avoid me at all costs.

Professional and patient confidentiality needs looking into , this happened aprox 18mts -2yrs ago, and I do not now have any confidence left to start this whole process again to possibly get some help for my condition.

I hope other patients do not or have not had this experience of this service.

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Responses

Response from Joy Synnott, Business Manager, Sligo Leitrim Adult Mental Health, HSE 5 years ago
Joy Synnott
Business Manager, Sligo Leitrim Adult Mental Health,
HSE

Submitted on 03/05/2018 at 16:08
Published on Care Opinion at 16:28

Dear Unhappy Service User, I am very sorry you have had such a negative experience with accessing our services. I am the Complaints Officer for Sligo Leitrim Mental Health Services and you can speak to me in total confidence about your complaint or write to me if you prefer. My email address is joy.synnott@hse.ie and if you let me have a contact number and a preferred time to call I will telephone you. You could also if you wish email me your complaint or write to me at Joy Synnott, SLMHS, Administration Building, Clarion Road, Ballytivnan, Sligo. Please be assured we take all complaints about the service very seriously. I hope this will give you the confidence to start the process again or I can assist you to get the process started again.

Finally thank you for taking the time to let us know about your experience. It is very important we know about the bad experiences as well as the good so we can learn how to improve services for all our clients.

I look forward to hearing from you

Joy

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Response from Donagh O'Neill, Consultant Psychiatrist, South/West Sligo Team, Sligo Leitrim Mental Health Services 5 years ago
Donagh O'Neill
Consultant Psychiatrist, South/West Sligo Team,
Sligo Leitrim Mental Health Services

Submitted on 04/05/2018 at 15:01
Published on Care Opinion on 09/05/2018 at 09:15

picture of Donagh O'Neill

I am very sorry that you were disappointed with the service provided by our Community Mental Health Team and with issues of confidentiality.

General Practitioners are the referrers to the Community Mental Health Teams. Once a referral is received the Community Mental Health Team will respond to the referral. The response to the referral may involve more than one staff member. All referrals are treated with confidentiality within the team. Appointments are arranged by Community Mental Health Team staff in a variety of ways including texts, phone calls and by letter.

I would hope that you can attend your GP in the future for a review of your condition and for a further referral to our Community Mental Health Service if required.

Dr Donagh ONeill

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Unhappy service (a service user)

Thank you for your comments. It has taken me several times to get as far as seeing a team member to be assessed, as I explained at the assessment the reasons why I insisted in patient confidentiality and my local area was Tubbercurry and I met the assessor in Ballymote where she assured me I could continue to meet further health advisors there, which in this case definately did not happen, and if you would like to re read the letter I posted this has been explained clearly there.

I have very little self confidence now and will take quite some time for me to be well enough to even approach my GP yet again on this matter.

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