Our funded advocacy service helps people with issues relating to access to healthcare and access to Adult Social Care. Here is a recent story from the service.
Service User L had asked for advocacy support with access to secondary healthcare for three different issues.
She felt that the delay in accessing the appropriate services and medical treatment had caused a deterioration in her condition.
She also felt that her GP surgery had not been helpful in supporting her to follow up on these secondary healthcare referrals.
L has previously been diagnosed with ADHD which means that she can get confused, have difficulties ordering her thoughts and forget what she was talking about with professionals or miss important details.
She was feeling very confused about where to start and isolated trying to cope with this on her own.
The advocate discussed the history of these issues with L and how she had developed complex health issues at a young age which had become chronic when she came to the UK. She had been dissatisfied with NHS treatment in general and had raised several complaints in the past which had not served to bring an improvement in her treatment.
L reported that when she mentioned to the GP surgery that she was now being supported by an advocate, they arranged one specialist hospital appointment promptly and made a referral to another department.
The advocate supported L at a GP appointment and two hospital appointments. The advocate was able to help L to overcome the challenges of her ADHD; prior to each appointment they carefully discussed exactly what she wanted to achieve so that L was supported and empowered to speak to the healthcare professionals with occasional prompts from the advocate.
The GP appointment went well – when they met before the appointment L was very nervous so the advocate was instrumental in helping create a calm and reassuring environment for L to remember their main points and ask for what she wanted.
The GP agreed to a monthly blood test for a 6-month period and a referral to a cancer screening centre. Also, to changing L’s medication from weekly to monthly. When they came out of the appointment L was looking much more relaxed and happier.
Both hospital appointments went well and with the first department a follow up appointment was arranged for a few months’ time.
The appointment with the second department was conducted with a multidisciplinary team of 5 professionals. This was very overwhelming for L and made her feel tense and anxious – reassurance and support from the advocate enabled a full exploration of the relationship between the psychological and physiological sides of L’s condition.
The advocate comments that it has overall been a very positive experience working with L. “L is very intelligent but often struggles to remember information which is given to her verbally so it can help for her to receive a written summary following appointments.”
L was very happy with the advocate’s support. “With you, all went well and the GP agreed to everything we asked for whereas before he was not taking me seriously.”
Note: We collaborate with advocates to write these stories but remove the names of advocates, the language used and other details to ensure confidentiality for Service Users.
P.S. Do you have a story to share? Please contact ben@sussexinterpreting.org.uk
