Hear from patients about the experiences they have had with the Sheffield Primary and Community Mental Health Service.
Here are some stories, testimonies and pieces of feedback from people who have used the Sheffield Primary and Community Mental Health Service.
All names used on this page have been changed.
Steve had been using prescribed medication for many years to manage their mental health condition. For two years they had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication and for many years prescribed anti-depressants. They still had thoughts of self- harm, low moods and felt paranoid. The medication was helping but it made them feel ‘zombified’ and they had gained weight. Steve wanted to be medication free but also have a stable mental health. Over five months Steve worked with the pharmacist and occupational therapist to reduce their medication and increase their activities. They did have some side effects like headaches and challenges in sleeping but after a while these settled down. Steve started to go out to planned activities and made new connections, this helped to reduced their weight and improve their physical health.
I can trust health care professionals again. I still have crises, but I am better able to manage them. Confidence in myself has increased.
In her sixties Kiara saw her GP for help. She has chronic pain, memory issues due to a past head injury and has lived and managed her bipolar disorder. There had been number of changes which was making her care arrangements a great distress to her, she was feeling very low and worried for the future. She worked with her mental health practitioner for seven months to bring together all her strengths by understanding Kiara’s history. This has helped her realise how much distress she has managed over her sixty years. The mental health practitioner has seen Kiara on a weekly basis, offering advice on her rights and how to uphold them, teaching practical skills to aid memory and has worked on how her history has impacted on her view of the world. They have worked on how in the future during times of distress she will use this understanding and new skills to reduce the distress she feels during times of pressure.
I’ve been through mental health services for years and nothing’s ever made much change apart from this. This is the best one. I feel hopeful now.
It was good to be listened to for a long period of time, was given some good techniques and coping exercises. Therapist putting things in writing and having the opportunity to reflect on them in own time useful.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has firstly put a label to my condition which for me was hugely important in understanding my condition. I believe I have been equipped with some essential tools in understanding my behaviour and therefore enabling me to change my thoughts that had much control in my actions. I would like to thank the mental health service and recommend very strongly anybody suffering mental health issues that CBT is the route to change and improvement.
Here are two pieces of feedback to the service from GP teams in Sheffield who worked alongside the Primary and Community Mental Health Service:
You hit the ground running from the start; very helpful to have you physically present as a team in the surgery.
The service has really helped a lot of our more complex patients feel more supported and listened to. It has been very valuable as a lot of our patients struggle to engage with IAPT [Sheffield Talking Therapies]. Thank you for all your hard work.
Your presence has enabled GP team to feel less stressed/under pressure regarding caring for those with serious mental illness (SMI) – thank you.
You are doing a fantastic job as a team – keep up the good work.
"Thank you so much for all your help, you have been amazing working with us, it was really a pleasure."
"Patients were able to be seen much sooner given current/ongoing access constraints. We would welcome the service back if it was offered again in the future."
"Impressed that the team go above and beyond for the patients."
"Thank you for helping with our serious mental illness (SMI) register, all SMI figures have decreased, your team saw a lot of complex patients in a short space of time. Your support is very much appreciated. Andrew has been talking with colleagues at different points which was great as it showed a consideration for how our practice does things."
"Excellent service manged to complete most of our SMI patients including a very complex patient who will not engage with the practice."
"I think it's great - having dedicated clinics for the SMI checks helps us and reception organise the check much better and for patients I think it's working well that they have a dedicated slot with a health coach for the physical health check. Health coach has been great too and even noticed a BT a patient had the day after her appointment which was no longer needed so prevented the patient from having a double appointment/wasted trip!”
"You have been able to reach patients who wouldn’t normally engage with the surgery or DNA."
"Always found the health coaches to go above and beyond to ensure all patients were contacted and seen."
"The practice has benefited greatly from this service as we don’t have the capacity to provide the level of support to these patients as you have."
"The support to both patients and practice has fantastic. You have been able to provide focused care to a cohort of patients that we are not always able to reach."
"Patients have attended who are difficult to engage with."
"From start to finish, this has been a brilliant service. So helpful and useful to the practice."
"Excellent service, health coach went above and beyond to contact patients and try and book them in."
"Thank you very much for all the hard work put in and the care and compassion within the work you do 😊"
If you could like to leave your own feedback, please get in touch with us to tell us about your experience in using this service. This can be good or bad.