Lucie
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Post by Lucie on Jan 17, 2017 21:22:44 GMT
Hi there,
I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of the Sheffield NHS adult assessment service? I don't seem able to find anything much about it online / or forum post from anyone who has used the service.
I've been referred there but after reading things here about difficulties with NHS services I feel a bit daunted and wonder if I should try to go private.
I'm not sure if this is the best board to post this on. If there's a better one please let me know.
Thanks
Lucy
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Post by vagueandrandom on Jan 17, 2017 22:30:29 GMT
I'm not in Sheffield, but know people who've used the service. It looks good online, but they mainly assess and send you away as the CCG doesn't seem to fund adult medication. If you're on Twitter have a look at @adhdworldwide Sorry not to be more positive Wakefield seems to be better If you're being referred out of area your CCG might be up for funding meds. . I'm in Hull and there's bugger all here . . I go to the West Yorkshire support group in Wakefield on the first Tuesday of the month. .Sheffield Flourish has just started a support group if you're interested.
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Lucie
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Post by Lucie on Jan 18, 2017 19:46:48 GMT
Thanks for your response vagueandrandom. I'm not quite clear what this means re the CCG. Is it that I would get the diagnostic assessment but that they wouldn't prescribe any meds? Other than the meds issue did the people you know who used the service have a good experience of going through the process? Other than the meds issue. I called today and they said its around a 10 month wait for assessment!! That seems crazy long. im from Sheffield so think it's very unlikely I'd get funded to go elsewhere. L
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Post by vagueandrandom on Jan 18, 2017 20:12:17 GMT
The CCG is Clinical Commissioning Group, they decide what treatments to fund.
I don't know about the service, there's someone at the support group who
comes from Sheffield, who told me about the meds situation for adults and
ADHDworldwide said they just got a leaflet with no treatment or counselling.
The 10 month wait is quite normal. .some waiting lists are 2 years or more and
a lot of areas have no service at all, which is why I'm becoming an expert on
the NHS and CCGs.
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amelia
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Post by amelia on Feb 5, 2017 19:31:41 GMT
Hi,
I got assessed at the Sheffield clinic and the wait is normal with any mental health service. I don't know how the funding works there, but because I'm not based in Sheffield I have had to wait for funding approval which took around 6 months (they told me last week it should be going ahead now). The assessment was pretty straightforward and seems less intensive than some other experiences I have read about on here. Mine only lasted around 90 minutes.
You also have to have a GP that will agree to the shared care protocol or sheffield won't treat you at all. You have 6 appointments to get the correct dose and then they kick you out. No follow ups or reviews, that of all things is what is causing me the problems in getting my GP to agree to go ahead with it.
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Endymion
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Post by Endymion on Feb 6, 2017 23:33:30 GMT
I live in Sheffield and was referred by my gp straight away and seen by the psych within about 4 months. Straight diagnosis and then treatment. Not a bad word can be said for the treatment I received. First class.
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Lucie
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Post by Lucie on Feb 19, 2017 16:15:34 GMT
Thank you so much for the replies and information. Endymion, were you referred recently? They told me 10 months when I called in January. I chased up my referral last week and discovered it had been sent to the wrong service. They told me they triaged the referral and sent it back to the GP saying that there was no suitable service!!! When I told the lady on the phone about the Sheffield Adult Autism and neurodevelopmental service she had no idea that it existed My GP has now resent the referral to the correct service but with the added wait my anxiety and impatience have kicked in. After years of speculating now ive finally discussed it with my GP and found that she fully supports me being assessed, I just want to know either way. So I've made a private appointment which is a bit of a stretch but hopefully will be worth it.
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Endymion
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Post by Endymion on Feb 20, 2017 12:34:06 GMT
Thank you so much for the replies and information. Endymion, were you referred recently? They told me 10 months when I called in January. I chased up my referral last week and discovered it had been sent to the wrong service. They told me they triaged the referral and sent it back to the GP saying that there was no suitable service!!! When I told the lady on the phone about the Sheffield Adult Autism and neurodevelopmental service she had no idea that it existed My GP has now resent the referral to the correct service but with the added wait my anxiety and impatience have kicked in. After years of speculating now ive finally discussed it with my GP and found that she fully supports me being assessed, I just want to know either way. So I've made a private appointment which is a bit of a stretch but hopefully will be worth it. I was referred about 3 years ago now. Very simple process for me. Went to GP, he referred me to the psychiatric/mental health team and then I was seen about 4 months later (admittedly after I got an early appointment due to cancellation ) and then after about 6 months of assessment on MPH I was referred back to GP who agreed to prescribe. Never had any real issues at all getting seen, diagnosed or prescribed the drugs to treat.
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Post by blaze on Feb 23, 2017 10:59:31 GMT
I'm in York, was originally refered put of area to Wakefield, who were lovely but no where as experienced as the amazing local psych I saw in Aberdeen. But I havn't seen Wakefield in 3 yrs now for med reviews as Dr left & waiting lists backing up. Now york are sorting an adult adhd they have informed me I will be sent there, but I expect a big wait (asyou kids are waiting 12 mths+ for asd/adhd assessments despite alot of professionals nagging them for us)
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Lucie
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Post by Lucie on Mar 6, 2017 22:10:21 GMT
I had my private assessment today. It seemed fairly straight forwards and clear. I managed to find 2 old school reports and the consultant said that the evidence in these was some of the strongest he'd seen.
It seems odd that when I was clearly struggling so much the schools didn't do more to try and help . . but maybe it just wasn't the done thing at the time.
It's a weird experience. On one level I knew so don't feel much but on another there's a kind of shell shock and disbelief that it's actually real and that my struggles are validated officially.
Thanks for all the info to everyone that responded to my initial message.
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Lucie
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Post by Lucie on Mar 24, 2017 20:16:04 GMT
I'm just doing an update incase it's helpful for others in the area or to see if anyone else has other info.
Just to recap:
*In Jan I was referred by my GP (in Sheffield) for an adult ADHD assessment. This was sent to the community mental health service.
*The referral was sent back to the GP suggesting that I be referred to see an IAPT worker (I have previously seen an IAPT worker and was totally!!!!!!! unimpressed)
*I called the community mental health service to find out more and they said they don't deal with ADHD and knew of no adult ADHD service in Sheffield.
*GP referred me again this time directly to Sheffield Adult Autism and Neurodevelopmental Service (SAANS).
Today I phoned SAANS to see where things were with my referral and they told me that it has been sent on to the community mental health team (same place the initial referral was sent to). I explained what happened previously, and the lady told me that for Sheffield patients SAANS only deals with adult ADHD if it is comorbid with ASD and otherwise the pathway is community mental health. She said they do assess people from other areas for ADHD without ASD but not for Sheffield patients She even looked into it further and called me back to confirm what she had first said.
I'm really happy with the private Psychiatrist who assessed and diagnosed me and my preference is to stay with him (and I would definitely rather stay with him than see an unspecialised general psychiatrist through community mental health after things I've read), but I'm also panicking about the cost of continued private medication reviews and prescriptions 😤. It's really frustrating that Sheffield has this specialised service that residents are apparently not able to access!!
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Guest user from Sheffield
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Post by Guest user from Sheffield on Nov 12, 2017 15:26:09 GMT
My experience of mental health care in Sheffield has been appalling.
IAPT assessed me 42 weeks ago and sent me a brochure on drug and alcohol addiction. Considering I'm teetotal and non smoker this was less than helpful.
I was referred by my GP to the community health team who again assessed me with severe depression.
It took three phone calls to get me this assessment which ended with a statement that there was no treatment available.
There was also a great deal of pressure applied to take medication, despite my pointing out that my GP agreed it was clinically inappropriate.
The summary of my path through Sheffield mental health is:
42 weeks and still no treatment or treatment plan 16 assessments 2 suicide attempts. 1 due to the arrogant attitude of Sheffield community health.
There's a great deal of publicity about how Sheffield has saved 2 million pounds by cutting services.
The suicide rate has rocketed in Sheffield since the cuts.
Draw your own conclusions but I find it sad that mental health care is in such a poor state in this area.
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Post by HypatiaClare on Sept 27, 2018 10:17:52 GMT
Just wondering about the wait for assessment in Sheffield? I've also found the city's Mental Health Services frighteningly inadequate, & with ante-natal at times it's downright dangerous - I was classed as a basket-case after 'admitting' to previous depression, after I'd mentioned depression (bitterly regret doing that) all my actions were suddenly viewed through their skewed paranoia - if I missed a call from a midwife they viewed it as deliberate, rather than the phone battery, etc etc, they literally hounded me, it was surreal. (Apparently they were paranoid after a recent case where they'd missed something with bad results & much reprimanding, so they were very over keen with anyone else, to a ridiculous extreme, but it was so frustrating to be on the receiving end, to the point where I stopped accessing health care for years, just couldn't trust them) Anyway, 1 offspring has finally been diagnosed with Aspergers, I'm pretty sure that matches my symptoms, I've been told it's a 14 month wait for assessment in Sheffield? - They suggested going private but I looked online & someone said £1,000?! - I was thinking £200 at a push, lol..
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Post by hypatiaclare on Sept 27, 2018 10:24:20 GMT
*Sorry, I didn't realise this was for AADD only - (tho' apparently aspergers has been renamed in Sheffield now, lol) so it's probably not the right place to post? Though it's still about accessing autism assessment services, but if you need to remove this post, that's fine Just wondering about the wait for assessment in Sheffield? 1 offspring has finally been diagnosed with Aspergers, I'm pretty sure that matches my symptoms, I've been told it's a 14 month wait for assessment in Sheffield? - They suggested going private but I looked online & someone said £1,000?! - I was thinking £200 at a push, lol.. I've also found the city's Mental Health Services frighteningly inadequate, & with ante-natal at times it's downright dangerous - I was classed as a basket-case after 'admitting' to previous depression, after I'd mentioned depression (bitterly regret doing that) all my actions were suddenly viewed through their skewed paranoia - if I missed a call from a midwife they viewed it as deliberate, rather than the phone battery, etc etc, they literally hounded me, it was surreal. (Apparently they were paranoid due to recent case where they'd missed something with bad results & much reprimanding, so they were very, very over keen with anyone else, to a ridiculous & harmful extreme, but it was so frustrating to be on the receiving end, to the point where I stopped accessing health care for years, just couldn't trust them)
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Post by vagueandrandom on Sept 28, 2018 10:15:22 GMT
There’s a peer support group in Sheffield on the second Wednesday of the month,
6-7.30pm NHS Walk-in Centre (upstairs room) Broad Lane.
People seem to have very different experiences of the ADHD service and even living
just outside the city limits can mean different ‘rules’
Waiting lists are generally pretty long, wherever you live.
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