Post by redeemable on May 11, 2014 6:50:11 GMT
Just wanted to give anyone in the Port Talbot area the heads-up if they're trying to get a referral for ADHD testing.
I had my initial diagnosis 3 years ago and was under the care of the Acute Assessment department of Port Talbot hospital. Dr Craddock was on long-term sickness leave (she has since retired unfortunately) so the treatment was dealt with by whichever locum was seconded to the area and I went through 3 different doctors during my time with them. My initial issue was because I have ADHD-based problems with explaining myself and getting a point across, when dealing with people whose first language is not English I rarely have confidence that specific details are being understood correctly and none of those doctors were of nationalities that use English as a primary dialect. This is in no way racist, they certainly appeared to be very efficient and professional however I came away from most sessions feeling like some of the issues I'd brought up were either misunderstood or not understood at all. I did bring this up with the support and admin staff there however they explained this was the only place I could go to for my treatment.
During the summer of 2013 that department of the hospital closed and all ADHD cases were referred to the South Community Mental Health Team at the Forge Centre in Port Talbot. As I'd had dealings with them in the past I had more confidence in my condition being dealt with successfully.
I was put under the care of Dr K Robertson and my initial meeting with her was a general "getting to know you" talk which seemed to be good. She's South African I think and seems like a nice person however on my second consultation she admitted she knew very little about ADHD and that my starting there would be as much a learning curve for her as me. I was a bit taken aback at this, I know ADHD can often be a niche area but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a mental health professional to have a good working knowledge of the condition.
This is not in any way meant to be a character assassination of Dr Robertson or to question her professionalism, more a criticism of the level of care for ADHD sufferers in the Port Talbot area. As our meetings went on it was clear that part of her learning about ADHD was coming from me. Since I suspected I had the condition years ago I've done a lot of research and study in to it and some of it may be unproven or anecdotal so I don't consider myself an expert by any means however in each of the regular appointments I've had with Dr Robertson there has not been any instance where I've come away from there feeling I've learned anything new, or felt confident about my treatment. Again I stress I am not knocking her abilities or levels of compassion.
My disappointment is with the very limited help available in this area. Obviously the main problem is money, I assume there aren't enough ADHD cases in Port Talbot to make better facilities more "cost effective" for the NHS. But still, I can't say the outlook is good for people in my area with this condition.
I had my initial diagnosis 3 years ago and was under the care of the Acute Assessment department of Port Talbot hospital. Dr Craddock was on long-term sickness leave (she has since retired unfortunately) so the treatment was dealt with by whichever locum was seconded to the area and I went through 3 different doctors during my time with them. My initial issue was because I have ADHD-based problems with explaining myself and getting a point across, when dealing with people whose first language is not English I rarely have confidence that specific details are being understood correctly and none of those doctors were of nationalities that use English as a primary dialect. This is in no way racist, they certainly appeared to be very efficient and professional however I came away from most sessions feeling like some of the issues I'd brought up were either misunderstood or not understood at all. I did bring this up with the support and admin staff there however they explained this was the only place I could go to for my treatment.
During the summer of 2013 that department of the hospital closed and all ADHD cases were referred to the South Community Mental Health Team at the Forge Centre in Port Talbot. As I'd had dealings with them in the past I had more confidence in my condition being dealt with successfully.
I was put under the care of Dr K Robertson and my initial meeting with her was a general "getting to know you" talk which seemed to be good. She's South African I think and seems like a nice person however on my second consultation she admitted she knew very little about ADHD and that my starting there would be as much a learning curve for her as me. I was a bit taken aback at this, I know ADHD can often be a niche area but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a mental health professional to have a good working knowledge of the condition.
This is not in any way meant to be a character assassination of Dr Robertson or to question her professionalism, more a criticism of the level of care for ADHD sufferers in the Port Talbot area. As our meetings went on it was clear that part of her learning about ADHD was coming from me. Since I suspected I had the condition years ago I've done a lot of research and study in to it and some of it may be unproven or anecdotal so I don't consider myself an expert by any means however in each of the regular appointments I've had with Dr Robertson there has not been any instance where I've come away from there feeling I've learned anything new, or felt confident about my treatment. Again I stress I am not knocking her abilities or levels of compassion.
My disappointment is with the very limited help available in this area. Obviously the main problem is money, I assume there aren't enough ADHD cases in Port Talbot to make better facilities more "cost effective" for the NHS. But still, I can't say the outlook is good for people in my area with this condition.